The Dragon Prince: Zero Eclipse - Book 1: Rise of the Dark Crystal
by Saints and Kings
Summary: The last primal magic humans have been betrayed and murdered by their own kind, leaving behind an orphaned boy. Adopted into Xadia by elves, a human boy becomes a symbol of hope. However, can he retain that hope despite the pain and anger caused by the Pentarchy. As well as vengeful allies. Meanwhile, hidden for centuries the worlds true villains: the Skeksis Lords bide their time.
1. Chapter 1: Purged

**The Dragon Prince: Zero Eclipse **

**Book 1 **

**Rise of the Dark Crystal**

Chapter 1: Purged

The cold. That was the first thing that Zeren Amari felt as he opened his eyes, and saw the tumbling waves crashing all around his families ship. The wind and the rain were making his face numb, and the constant water splashing upwards from the stormy seas was beggining to make him slightly nauseous but still the eight year old boy remained on deck staring out at the horizon, waiting for the landline of Katolis. Clutching the letter in his hands, the boy was full of excitement about being able to meet other people outside of his families private estate, and beyond the close watching eyes of the servants and guards. He was finally being given the chance to make friends and see the outside world, even if it was just the human kingdoms, he was still excited. The rest of his family had set sail four days ago, leaving him to his history studies and mage lessons.

He was travelling from his ancestral home in the kingdom of Duren to meet up with his parents and siblings in Katolis to attend the wedding of King Svengauld and his wife to-be, Dalia Amari; Zeren's older sister. As he was the youngest son, Zeren was told to remain in the Duren family castle and continue his mage lessons until he received a scroll requesting his arrival. His father; Lord Sion Amari, and siblings were all very protective of the youngest child. Mainly due to the fact that his magic aura was the strongest out of all of them, and so Zeren was kept out of the public eye for now. Yet, with the marriage of his beloved eldest sister to the new king of Katolis, Lord Sion decided it was the right time for the rest of the world, both human and elven, to know about the newest human primal mage.

The Amari family was one of the most prominent bloodlines within the five human kingdoms; and they were often called the 'shadow royals', because they were the sole remaining human family that possessed innate primal magic, and they didn't have to resort to using dark magic. This made them legends within the human occupied western half of the continent, and heretics in Xadia; due to the elves and dragons believing that humans solely brought about death, sorrow and destruction, and that any primal human mages were an affront to the sacredness of magic itself. And should be eradicated from

existence to keep pure primal magic out of the grasp of 'corruptible humans'. For nearly twelve hundred years, since the continent was divided, elven assassins were sent into the human kingdom whenever strong primal Amari blooded mages were born, and so said family would always try to keep the births of their children secret to protect them, and ensure that the Pentarchy would always have strong mages to protect it.

Such respect and such fear, was at the heart of many of the royal families interests when they worked with this illustrious family. But amongst the fear and respect, also brewed resentment and jealousy. The power of primal magic compared to dark magic was already known to be non detrimental to the dark mages health, dark mages would eventually become so corrupted by darkness that they would die from overuse of their own power. Whereas the primal Amari's never succumbed to that fate, they lived long prosperous lives and died of old age. Moreover, the power level was slightly more inclined towards primal magic. And so the Amari family was often treated with deference and hidden suspicion, kept within the loop of royal influence and power but always on the fringes of it.

The Amari family wasn't aware of the distance that the kingdoms placed between them but they did know that they were watched, suspiciously and jealously. So when Lord Sion and Lady Ulrica were told that the new king of Katolis wanted to marry their eldest daughter, they were enthused, Dalia herself was reserved about her arranged marriage but nevertheless relented to it; as was expected of her. Yet, none of them ever considered that the offer was anything but a ruse to have the whole family gather in one place to be eliminated. Such was the intended outcome by the royal family of Katolis, with the collective assent of the other four kingdoms. King Svengauld already had a wife and an heir, Crown Prince Harrow, and yet he and his father-in-law; the King of Neolandia, Otar Ren, were the ones originally behind the plot.

The ordinary citizens of the Pentarchy were unaware of the plot of murder the entire Amari family, so when lord Sion and lady Ulrica and four of their five children arrived in Katolis, the people cheered joyfully and genuinely. Thinking that they were about to have an Amari queen, for the first time in over two hundred years; back then marrying an Amari had been all the rage. The striking violet eyes contrasted with the brown hair, was said to be gifted from the gods. However, ever since the catastrophic exploration in the borderlands between the human and elven territories that resulted in the deaths of two kings; the Amari's fell from grace and became isolationist. So when lord Sion received that betrothal letter about Dalia and King Svengauld, he believed that they were being let back into the fold of the Pentarchy, and decided to bring his whole family to the wedding. Lord Sion and his wife, Lady Ulrica, and their twenty year old daughter Dalia, eighteen year old son Andrei, the twins brother and sister; fifteen year old Reina and Lysander, and finally the youngest son, eight year old Zeren; who would be arriving later.

Attending the fake wedding, were the crown heads of the five kingdoms of Katolis, Duren, Neolandia, Del Bar and Evenere. All putting on aires of pleasantries and graciousness but also expecting to witness the extinction of the last human primal mage family in existence. Only then would the Human Pentarchy be safe and secure from any perceived threat from the ancient Amari family. Then the only thing left to do would be to burn the private estate to the ground along with every relic and artefact within the Amari castle, so that all trace of _them _was gone. As they watched their targets walk into the throne room, King Svengauld and the other kings and queens smiled rising from the places at the large table in front of the throne. Then just at Lord Sion was about to speak, the doors of the room were shut and bolted making him turn around to see why such an action was done only then to find himself and his family being set upon and repeatedly stabbed by swords and spears of the oncoming Katolis guards. Falling to his knees and clutching at a gaping wound to lose his stomach, he beseeched the kings and queens, "_why...? What have we done wrong?"_

He got no answer from the grinning monarchs standing motionless behind their table, witnessing the murders before them. As he witnessed his wife and four of his children die before him, Sion Amari clicked his fingers together, in one desperate last move, and wrote and rune in the air before swishing it out of the window and out towards the sea. "_Semper Pleinus". _ He then collapsed to the floor as a knife was slashed across his throat, and as the light faded from his eyes he stared at all the kings, and smiled at them in turn. "_You are the moon, unaware of the dawn... may your purpose be fulfilled_", he rasped, "_...and cast two shadows down upon the ground of tomorrow, and you will know your penance_". With his piece said, Lord Sion Amari fell face first to the ground in a pool of blood, dead, surrounded by his wife and children. And yet the words he said, chilled those who heard it to the bone. A prophecy or threat, about the survival and return of the youngest Amari child.


	2. Chapter 2: Aftermath

Chapter 2: Aftermath

As soon as the white rune had shown up on the deck of the Amari ship, the sailors and servants had immediately understood its meaning and altered course away from mainland Katolis; protecting the eight year old boy now being held below deck. The Amari sailors tried to send messages either by crow or magical receivers but they were either shot down or blocked. And so they came to realising that contacting the the castle back in Duren about what had happened here in Katolis, wasn't going to be any use due to it probably being under siege or destroyed already. The three ship captains diverged in their ideas, and none of them noticed when the young boy was put in a rowboat with two guards and fled the area, "the captains are squabbling! They intend to sell you out! We will get you away from here", the two guards explained as the boat was rowed away into the dark night.

Once the boy was known to have escaped, and the captains deduced that the castle in Duren had been attacked and destroyed by the Pentarchy, the remaining loyalists onboard the main ship, and the supporting two ships, broke apart and split into factions. Two ships openly despaired about their survival and proposed handing the boy over. Yet, both these ships had different reasons for wanting so. One wanted to abandon everything they had once known and live normally within the kingdoms, and saw the boy as key to their own personal survival. The other however, agreed that the old loyalties were dead but said that the knowledge should be kept out of the dark mages and royals grasps. The second ship wanted to go into hiding and protect everything they had once known, giving up on the boy in exchange for their own lives.

The last ship was full of soldiers and guards who were overtly vengeful and refused to let the slaughter of their masters go unpunished, and whom refused to give up on Zeren Amari. Saying that he would "disappear, for now. And then return to rain fire and blood down upon those who killed his family". All three ships sailed away from each other and went different directions, two fled into open ocean whilst followed by navy ships of Katolis and Neolandia. However, the third allowed itself to be captured by the Katolis navy, and then joined the royals who had destroyed the family they had once served. Pledging servitude, loyalty and knowledge to the advancement of dark magic, the Pentarchy as a whole and the use of their skills in front line warfare.

The first faction, comprised of those who wanted to survive by abandoning their loyalty altogether, was the most easily absorbed into the regular armies of the Pentarchy's constituent kingdoms, becoming known as the 'Rogues'. And seeing their old loyalties as dead, and no longer applying, they betrayed locations of secret bunkers, vaults and caches of artefacts to the dark mages across the five kingdoms to further the use of dark magic. The 'rogues' effectively became the vanguard, and the most hardened warriors, of the regular armies due to them having to work harder than most to earn the trust and reliability of the kingdoms they served. So many rogues chose to work as the elite commandos guarding the Breach, sacrificing themselves in battle against elves and dragons during raids into Xadia, sanctioned by kings and dark mages that wanted access to prized magical objects. Elves and dragons began to fear that the human purge of the Amari family had inadvertently created a military force that was now bloodthirsty and ravenous, the rouges got perilously close to capturing the Moonshadow elf city of Lunaris, the only reason why it failed was of the intervention by the former dragon king Sol Regum; coming to the elves aid.

The second faction renamed themselves the 'Faceless Order', donned masks of lacquered oak and wore robes of grey. Whilst they were theoretically loyal to their former masters, they also were acutely aware of their own weakness in the fighting department. Moreover, they understood that overt loyalty would be met by bloodshed, and they didn't want that. The second faction was mainly made up of scholars, historians, teachers and servants whom respected the ways of the Amari primal mages and didn't want their ways lost or cannibalised by dark mages. And whilst this group was waiting for young Zeren to grow up and return to them, they fled into hiding across the human kingdom of Evenere, specifically because the terrain was mostly swamps. Making a ground invasion, should they be discovered, next to impossible. Moreover, within the swamps the Faceless Order created a secret temple complex and a network of underground tunnels all designed to hide, preserve and research the few texts, artefacts and spells that they had managed to salvage from the many caches that they saved form destruction. Whilst the second faction was no longer associated or aligned with the Amari family, rather protecting their knowledge and power, they still kept tabs on the location of the Amari boy. Yet, they never contacted him and made him aware of any potential allies he may have, as far as the Faceless Order was concerned the knowledge of primal magic was far more important than the bloodline of those who could wield primal magic.

The final faction came to be known as the Militancy, and they were resplendently brutal. Their indiscriminate attacks on royalty, nobility and even citizenry who even spoke about the purge were slaughtered in such an array of bifurcation, beheading and/or dismemberment, that newspapers were often extremely censored by the governing royals. Fear and panic spread through the lands of the Pentarchy, as the remnants of the Amari soldiers and militia guards emerged into a single unified but spread over the five kingdoms hell bent on revenge and retribution. Terrorists, murderers and radical theologians... were what newspapers could get away with calling them. Those who were caught in their crosshairs had their bodies displayed in public locations for maximum fear rousing and panic. Bodies hung, drawn and quartered with the words 'Semper Fidelis' written in blood, on walls around as a warning that they, the Militancy, would aways get even. And that one Amari still lived. This third faction was adamantly opposed to the continued existence of the Pentarchy, and with their military background they were by far the greatest warriors against humanity, from within their own territories. The Militancy was striving for a human realm ruled by one king, rather than five, an Amari king. And then Xadia would finally accept, and take seriously, humanity.

The small rowboat had been trying to make it towards a small cove within the Katolis shoreline from which the guards could take the young boy further into the kingdom and away from the royals hunting him. Unfortunately, because of the rough waves and the thick fog the rowboat was swept out into the open ocean, where it was caught and battered around by a huge storm before being shattered on a hidden coral reef. The last thing that young Zeren remembered was being placed inside a barrel and told that it would "save his life", and then after having the lid fastened, he felt the boat crash into something and the barrel thrown into the sea and the splintering of the wooden rowboat. And then his world went dark as his head hit the side of the barrel as it was buffered around in the surf.

"Hey Eris", a tall winged sky wing elf spoke, tying his hair back into a pony tail, to avoid it swishing in front his face as he carried out his occupation; fisherman. "You do realise that we're meant to be finding sand eels. The boss ain't gonna he happy if we fail to get the adequate number to fill out quota". The male sky wing elf sighed as his younger sister waved off his concerns and continued to wander around the beach poking and prodding at everything that looked remotely interesting. From the lowliest rock pool to the marking on the back of a sea turtle, Eris was keen to learn as much about her world as she could. "Ohh lighten up, Juri", she replied, "and he's our dad. You do have to calm him boss, he'll understand if we don't catch many to sell". She shot a look at her brother daring him to try and denounce her, "Eris, you just tuned twenty. Would you please take this seriously", Juri countered turning back to his work.

Digging for sand eels wasn't particularly his favourite thing to do; it was tedious and not very rewarding, but since their father had retired from the sky wing academy to look after their ill mother, both the twenty four year old Juri and twenty year old Eris were now on eel collection and market stall businesses. He was just about to snap at his sister for ignoring him when he saw what had, newly, distracted her. Intrigued by the barrel Juri made his way over to Eris, who was trying and struggling to lever off the lid with her spade. Walking over to her, Juri added his own spadeful the barrel lid and together both sky wing elves removed the barrel top. As they looked inside they were both shocked and appalled by the sight of an unconscious badly bruised human child. Reeling back Juri made an attempt to walk away ignoring the child, but he was stopped by his sister who grabbed his arm and glared at him, "we're not leaving him! He may be a human but if we leave him he'll die". Then before he could interject, Eris leant down and picked up the human boy and toyed with a hanging side braid of brown hair on the boys head. Sighing again, Juri nodded his head, "fine... I guess I don't want to be responsible for the death of a child, even if he is a human. But the elders will want to see him when he wakes up, not to mention mum and dad will have questions".


	3. Chapter 3: Outcome

Chapter 3: Outcome

It only took four days for news of a human boy had washing ashore in Xadia to become common parlance. And more so, the fact that the boy had subsequently been adopted by local sky wing elves had both elven rulers and arch dragons venting their disgust and fury, yet even they refused to have the child killed for entering Xadia; the only excepting being the Sun King dragon, Sol Regem, and everyone knew why the former dragon king was hawkish when it came to demanding death sentences of humans entering Xadia; regardless of age, gender or societal status.

Sol Regem had been blinded by the founding human dark mage, and it was his refusal to give up dark magic that lead to the division of the whole continent and the following centuries of war. The Sun King abdicated his position as dragon king, and ever since then the legendary Sun King was bitter and angry. The origins of how humans first discovered and practiced dark magic were still vague, Sol Regem had never really got to the bottom of that question, many hundreds of humans were slain and imprisoned; moreover many elven Arch Mages were punished for sedition against their own kind for wanting to help humanity grow up strong in a world that wasn't always positive to them.

But it was early into the reign of the Storm dragon Avizandum, that the true mastermind of humanities dark magic discovery was revealed and punished. The star-touch elf arch mage, occultist and theologian; Aaravos viewed all living things as 'up for grabs' for usage in "advancing humanities foundations", as well as his own "studies". Weakening the dragons and the authority High Elven Lords of Xadia, Aaravos wanted to have retribution against his kin for their arrogance and stubbornness to accept his innovative magics, technological inventions and astute teachings. As a result, Aaravos was imprisoned by Avizandum within a mirror world, the key to which was to use all six primal magics simultaneously upon the mirror as well as placing a small turquoise gold gem into a small nook on the mirrors surface.

When Zeren Amari was taken to meet the elders of the sky-wing elves he was told to not give them a reason to demand his execution, in other words not showing that he was able to use primal magic. Elves were well aware of the Amari families power and why they were held in high regard, yet the moment the elders saw the boy their disgust and contempt was overt. "Exile him to the farthest region of Xadia!" One elder had roared, whilst another had come up with the brutal idea of 'turning the boy into a weapon of annihilation' against the humans, would be such delicious irony, humanity destroying itself. That idea deeply disturbed Eris and Juri; not only for its duplicitous brutality but because of the of the reception that it awakened, a tremendous amount of support from other elders and other elven lords. In response both Eris and Juri moved in front of the boy, indicating their displeasure and their protectiveness towards their adopted younger brother. However, at that moment a tremendous roar breached the elders citadel and a large draconic about pushed its way through the ceiling, eyes burning with ravenous ire.

"Stand aside! The boy is no different from other humans", Sol Regem raged peering down into the sky-wing elves hall of justice, the High Mount. "You may be the sun king, but you aren't the dragon king anymore", Eris stated drawing a sword and holding it in front of her. "Zeren is human, and we are elves and dragons in Xadia but he is an innocent boy in the crisscross of animosity between east and west". Instantly, guards rushed forwards spears raised towards Eris, "you dare raise your sword to the Sun King!" Flicking black hair out of her eyes, Eris showed off her elven horns adorned with war bands, and showing her position as a warrior, standing her ground and refusing to take back her words, she snapped back "I do dare! He has no right to call forth death upon an innocent human child. And if you even try to, I won't hesitate to end you!"

"Such resolve to protect a lesser being", Sol Regem spoke, turning his eyes towards the elven woman. "Yet, ultimately pointless. The boy cannot remain in Xadia. I decreed, long ago, that humans were to be expelled from all lands the west of the continent. The east is their domain, and there they shall dwell until their species dies out".

"My family has already adopted him", Juri exclaimed drawing his twin daggers and moving forwards. "There is no law against elves adopting human children. Our parents decided to raise Zeren to believe different from the rest of his kind so when the time comes for him to return west, he can teach and improve relations with us in Xadia". Narrowing his eyes at the slight movements of the guards, Juri gripped his daggers tighter and channeled some sky magic into he blades; giving them a shimmering blue sheen. "Traitors!" Abruptly yelled one of the sky-wing elders, "humans are incapable of learning anything other than how to make war and bring about suffering! The boy must die!" Eris instinctively sheaved he sword and knelt down, picking up young Zeren in her arms she then approached the assembled masses and began introducing them to the human boy she had saved. And was willing to protect from dragon fire.

"Fellow sky wing elves you all know me and my brother, our parents are Otar and Geencha, the hero's who saved Queen Kaan from dark mages. I know that you all believe humans to be unredeemable and evil, but if you look at this child, Zeren, you can see that there is no evil in him. And that can continue if we raise him to be understanding of elves and dragons. My parents, myself and my brother will ensure that by his sixteenth birthday; when he returns west, he shall be the first human to want to change this cycle of death". Walking up to and around her fellow elves, Eris hugged her adopted brother who remained quiet but curious. A combination that helped make Eris's point about humans having the ability to change if they were not constantly living in fear. The others would tentatively approach and examine the small child for signs of mistrust or anxiety anything that could be misconstrued into something negative and detrimental.

"Give him a chance, please. I know you're angry but Zeren is hope for a world where east and west can start to improve better relations", Juri finalised dropping both daggers and kneeling down before the snout of Sol Regem. Slowly, retreating from the hole in the ceiling, the Sun King simply vented smoke from his nostrils and let loose a low warbling growl. "Fine, take the child. But nothing good has ever come from humanity, and that won't change just because a few elves believe different", before Eris or Juri could counter the arch dragon of the SunFire elves, Sol Regem threw himself into the air and soared away. Leaving the sky wing elves alone and the decision about the human boy settled. "You will regret this", one of the elders snarled getting to his feet and stomping off. "Sol Regem is right, nothing can be done for humanity. They are a lost cause, and all your efforts will end in disaster! For all of the continent".


	4. Chapter 4: A Boy's Tale

Chapter 4: A Boy's Tale 

(Zeren age twelve)

Somerton was a small, remote merchant town populated by both Moon Shadow and Sky Wing elves that had moved away from the big cities. Otar and Geencha had moved here to get away from their trash talking former neighbours, whom hadn't bothered to hide their open contempt for the human boy they had adopted and being raised in the old town. And whilst Juri had taken the move as a good way to break from the scars of the past; he had been scouted as a skilled and suitable warrior for the next generation of Dragon Guard, and so he had gone off to the Storm Spire to partake in the entrance exams along with a other hopeful guardsman.

Eris remained more reserved knowing that anything could happen, public opinion towards human sympathisers could change in a flash, which was why she had put everything she had into teaching Zeren about elves, dragons, primal magic and the macabre dark magic practiced by some humans. Somerton was itself a more liberal town within Xadia, whilst not outright despised, humans were seen as part of the worlds makeup and should be allowed to exist. Yet, when it came to human use of dark magic and atrocities using it, most Somerton sky wing and moon shadow elves were more likely to resort to the 'tried and true' method of kill-kill-kill.

Growing up around elves, whilst trying to present himself as different from the stereotypical expectation of the rest of his kind, Zeren found difficult. He still missed, loved and remembered his real parents and siblings, and tried to abandon the hatred and anger he felt towards the human pentarchy for robbing him of them, but under the guidance, care and tuition of his sky wing adoptive parents: Otar and Geencha, he began to see the world in anew light. Xadia was not anything of the savage, bloodthirsty monsters that he was told about back at the family castle in Duren.

The east was utterly majestically, beautiful and wondrous. Each elven race was born connected to a different arcanum; sky, sun, ocean, earth, stars and moon. And each race that lived saw magic for what it was; nature manifest in its purest form. Geencha was the first to discover that Zeren was a mage but when his mother found out she immediately recognised the resonance of the sky arcanum within her adopted son, and so forthwith she sent two scroll messages; one to the queen of Lux Aurea, stronghold of the sunfire elves, and the other to the current dragon king, the storm dragon, Avizandum.

A meeting was organised, and decided to be placed in Lux Aurea, in the plaza leading up to the Sunforge, the dragon king would meet them there. Such a meeting with the queen of the sunfire elves and the dragon king was a daunting and frightening experience for the boy, as he had tried to keep connection to primal magic hidden but he was only found out due to wanting to help out more around Someton. On the journey to Lux Aurea he was accompanied by his elven adoptive sister Eris and mother Geencha, who were adamant in their participation and desire to protect the boy. Primal magic amongst humans was believed to be impossible and the realisation that Zeren could use it terrified the higher tiers of elven society. "What if other humans learn it, humanity would be have a capable force to retake Xadia!' Conversations varied in tonality and frequency, but the theme was the same. Fear. Dragons and a growing number of city living elves feared the potential wider learning of primal magic across the western half of the continent.

The meeting was an assessment of the human boy by the Sunfire elf queen and the dragon king to see if the boy held any malicious intent, and wether or not he would be one day an enemy of Xadia. Upon arrival Zeren, Geencha and Eris were led to the palace past throngs of gaping elves, unsure of what to do at the presence of a human. "Pay not attention to them," Geencha mused, taking her adopted sons hand, "they don't know the good in your heart". Eris walked alongside her mother and little brother, gripping her sword tightly and eyeing everyone warily. She only loosened up when they walked into Queen Kaaba's throne room, with Avizandum perched on the domed roof watching them intently. "So. You're the boy that has caused upset and confusion in Xadian high society", Queen Kaaba spoke tersely.

"I speak for my son," Geencha interrupted, stepping forwards and placing both hands on his shoulders. "You may be the sunfire queen but you don't know my son. I believe that humans and elves can live side by side in harmony, and Zeren is the hope of that dream". The chamber was silent as those words were taken in by everyone present, and yet the two persons who Geencha really wanted to hear it openly scowled. Queen Kaaba and Avizandum the storm dragon. "Your son is a human", Avizandum snarled. "I have no love for that inferior race, and whilst your hope is admirable, as Sol Regem stated long ago; as long as humans possess and use dark magic there will only be war".

"I agree. Dark magic is a nothing short of the cannibalism of nature, resulting in corruption of lives for petty reasons," Zeren spoke up. "I have a connection to primal magic, I don't know how, my human family had that ability as well. And they were killed out of sheer jealousy and greed, but I was raised in Xadia and I know the right way that magic should be used and respected".

"I know you are worried. I know of the mistrust and animosity between humanity and elves, but I am not beholden to those. I barely even remember my old life back in the human pentarchy. For me my home will alway be Xadia, and my family live in Somerton". Queen Kaaba stared down at the boy, whose silver eyes were speckled by tears, as he spoke about his new family life. Kaaba then noticed that older sky wing elf, Geencha, wrap her arms around the boys shoulders and press a kiss to his forehead as her daughter also hugged the boy. The queen was about to speak, when suddenly the booming voice of Avizandum broke the silence. "Lies! Humans only bring death. It's only a matter of time until you do to! You can remain in Xadia for four more years, but then you will be escorted to the Breach and returned to the human lands. If you ever return, I will not hesitate to kill you!"


	5. Chapter 5: Prophecy

Chapter 5: Prophecy

Two years had past since the meeting in Lux Aurea but the melancholy that it created, around Zeren's expulsion at age sixteen remained. And even though that was two years to come; Geencha, Otar, Eris and Juri were all despondent; the boy they adopted as a son and sibling was now inexplicably part of them now. Zeren didn't want to go back to the human lands but he knew that if he refused then his new family would be come outcasts and pariahs. So in readiness for his departure, he made it his business to help out as many of the elven residents of Somerton, showing them kindness, responsibility and humility, hoping that the more positive the village would see of him then the less his parents and siblings would be shunned.

He helped in the construction of new homes, using magic to heal the sick or simply cheering up those who were depressed; such acts of kindness slowly had the village come round to the idea that Zeren Amari was a good kindhearted human. One that would always understand the balance between nature and magic, and knew of the corruptibility of dark magic.

It was an autumn day in Somerton. Harvests were good and plentiful, and the nearby rivers were heavy with barges driven by water elves trafficking produce throughout Xadia. It was pretty rare for water elves to venture inland, as they tended to live by the coast or out on the open ocean on islands, pulled by manta turtles. Known for their merchant and seafaring skills, water elves were totally indifferent towards humanity due to having next to zero contact with humans. Zeren, now fourteen, was down by one of the rivers, the Cherwell, helping his sister hunt for lamprey. Whist he could catch many with magic, Eris had told him "no magic", wanting to instead reinforce his fishing skills and to not rely too much on magic.

Juri had passed the dragon guard exams a year ago and was now stationed at the Storm Spire with his fellow guardsmen and women, but he still contacted the family back in Somerton by phoenix mail. From what they could tell, the gist of what the chicken-scratch letters explained was that Juri was now one of ten elves highly trained within the ranks of the Dragon Guard; most being sky wing, moon shadow and sunfire elves. The other three elven races: Earth blood elves were stubborn, Water elves were indifferent to almost everything that didn't involve the sea and water, and Star touch elves tended to be introverted. Not necessarily a bad thing, but as warriors sworn to protecting the dragon king and queen they were not what was required. Plus the strongest warriors tended to be the elves of sun, moon and sky anyway.

Somerton, whilst retaining its original quaint village-ness was now being hailed as the largest city inside Xadia. A bastion of hope and belief, where peace with humanity was possible through the education of children; human and elves and the discussion of the sanctity of magic and life. Hundred of new homes had spread up in a ten mile radius, in each direction, from the centre point of the old village: an ancient moon and sky temple, where every elf would offer up a bit of their magic in deference and respect, regardless of whether or not the moon or sky were your own connected arcanum. A small trading port had been established on the banks of the Cherwell and the Ine, the rivers had always been seen as the most unimportant in Xadia but an accident involving Zeren and a misdirected lightning spell the rivers flooded a huge amount of land, creating new arable land. Valuable farmland was now created, and many elves from the Silver Grove arrived in Somerton seeking prosperity and healthy living.

Recently, the city had received visitors from the great mountain citadel of Astoria, stronghold of the Startouch elves. The visitors were all lesser star mages working beneath Arch Mage Sundari, right hand of king Hilliard. The star mages would wander around the town; exploring the waterways, observing the fields, and taking notes about the ingenuity of the businesses. Never did they involve themselves in the running of the city they simply watched life go by. And then one day, the star mages organised a meeting in the centre of town by the moon and sky temple and then began preaching of the importance of understanding the righteousness of peace with humanity and the sanctity of magic. Similar to what Geencha and Eris were teaching Zeren, the only difference was that this talk of peace and understanding, was coming from authorities of power within the secretive and reserved Startouch elf stronghold.

On this particular day, two star mages were talking to a gathering of sky wing elves beneath a tall weeping willow. As Eris and Zeren walked past, a hood covering Zeren's face, they both heard a snippet of the star mages words. "...Arch Mage Sundari has heard about the human boy living here in Somerton, and requests an audience with him..."

Immediately, Eris was on edge. Despite the more positive attitude towards a Zeren and the growing hope of peace, she knew that there was still deep anger and resentment within some quarters of elven powers. Grabbing her adopted brothers arm and pulling him behind she muttered, "don't let your guard down. It could be a trap". Zeren remained impassive, taking onboard his adoptive sisters advice before pulling his hood further over his face. "Wherever the boy is, we mean no harm to the child," the speaker again announced. "The Arch Mage heard knows that the human boy was adopted by a sky-wing family, and wanted to learn about what affects the boys presence was having on any potential change in opinion towards peace and understanding with humanity. So would anyone know where we can find him?"

Unable to forego her own anger and curiosity, Eris spun around and marched over it the star mages, holding her little brothers hand. "And what exactly, pray tell, does that mean?" Eris exclaimed moving forward, her eyes fixed on the grey tunic and brown breeches of two startouch elves. "Its the huntress..." murmurings began. "That's her", two moon shadow elves spoke, outing her, "she's the boys teacher and adopted sister". Eris glared at the moon shadow elves but then Zeren moved forwards and removed his hood, revealing his head of brown hair, elf-styled side braid and silver eyes. "You're looking for me right, so leave my sister out of this", his voice was timid but filled with defiance. "Yes, my boy", the first elf spoke, attempting to come closer but being blocked by Eris's sword . "I mean your brother no harm Miss... I merely wish to speak with him". Slowly, she lowered her sword and stepped aside before she glanced over to Zeren whose expression back at her, told her that he was cautiously curious.

"What do you want!?" Zeren asked, stepping forwards and trying to hide his fear. "What does the arch mage want with me?" Upon seeing the human boy appear, the crowd of elves moved aside making way for him, giving the fourteen year old human a clear sight of the two star mages before him. Not wanting to shame anyone, Zeren bowed his head. "Zeren Amari, last remnant of the powerful human mages in the kingdom of Duren. Assumed dead, back in the human kingdoms, yet alive and well in Xadia... your family has always been of great interest to the Oracle of Astoria".

At the mention of the oracle, the gathered elves froze; wonder and trepidation on their faces. "There are precisely six oracles within Xadia right now, and each of them is born to one of the six elven races, and they reside within their kins capital cities", the second star mage uttered. "But", the first mage continued, "you're families near extinction at the hands of your fellow humans, whilst foreseen, has also made unearthed an —unclear... prophecy. And Arch Mage Sundari wants you to travel to Astoria and meet with the High Oracle so that the prophecy can be deciphered properly".


	6. Chapter 6: City of Stars

Chapter 6: City of Stars 

Startouch elves were famous for being socially isolated and withdrawn, fastidiously logical and speaking in riddles and half truths. Of all the elven races, they were the most mysterious. Choosing to build their homes and cities high in the mountains, and only accessible along perilously high winding tracks, only scholarly elves and dragons only visited them. Star Mages had a reputation for being duplicitous, and whilst it was true that the elves of star more often than not had their own schemes and intrigue going on, they were not exactly being so out of sheer malice. Startouch elves couldn't lie, it was in their genetic makeup; hence the half truths, riddles and talk of prophecies and destiny.

Another reason why startouch elves were feared and kept at a distance was because of the legacy of Aaravos; an Arch Mage of the High Order of Sephira who attempted to contravene the laws of life and death for personal power, and who made the first human dark mage. Kickstarting the war between humanity and elves culminating in the continents division between human and elf, and the imprisonment of Aaravos by Avizandum; the dragon king, against the wishes of Sol Regem who wanted the 'traitor' "burned alive". And for nearly a millennia, distrust persisted between dragons and startouch elves, and despite the other elves trying to foster better relations the elves of star remained withdrawn and aloof.

The journey Zeren agreed to go on, to see the oracle, had been agreed with one extra the condition, that his sister Eris could accompany him. So not wanting to upset the boy, and to get him back to see the Oracle as soon as possible, the star mages acquiesced allowing the older sky wing elf to follow her human brother. Departing Somerton was hard, emotionally speaking, as it was the only safe place inside of Xadia that Zeren could live. Outside of Somerton, the other elves were not so friendly towards humans, especially the Sunfire elves, and so Eris made it her business to take her swords and a bow and quiver of arrows. Still, travelling with Star Mages had its advantages; fear and wariness of them would be enough of a deterrent for even the most murderous of human hating elves.

The Reinhardt Mountain range were the largest Xadia and was, for eight hundred years, kept as a giant natural barrier between the startouch elves and the other elven races.

The only way in was to walk along an extremely narrow rift in between the mountain range; known as the Dwindling Traverse, it was impossible to defend yourself against attacks from above and all those approaching had to do so in single file, and then even if you reached the gatehouse you had to prove that your presence inside the Star Cities was beneficial to the Star Mages. If not, then the individual would be executed on the spot. For why would the guards let someone who evaded their traps walk away and tell others how to do the exact same thing, security was all the star mages desired. For now.

Walking through the mountains, up increasingly difficult gradients, was not something that Zeren had ever thought he would ever have to do. It was still amazing as to the receiving an invitation from an startouch elf Arch Mage had done to his willpower, and that of his sister Eris. They were the only two allowed to journey with the other star mages, on towards Astoria, even the former dragon king Sol Regem had attempted to discover why a human child, was of such interest to Arch Mage Sundari. Unfortunately, all the dragon's questions were answered in riddles, and after a while Sol Regem gave up and returned to the storm spire to relay information to king Avizandum and queen Zubeia.

"How much further?" Zeren groaned, leaning against a boulder. Eris walked over and helped support her little brother onwards, she too was beginning to feel bitter about all the ambiguity and answered questions. "The Dwindling Traverse is not much further... and as your with us, the guards will not fire upon you", one of the star mages replied over his shoulder pointing ahead of him.

As they approached the gatehouse, built into the narrow gap in the cliffs, Eris took her brother's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Don't worry little brother, I'm here. Whatever the arch mage wants and what the oracle says; I'm not leaving your side". As the portcullis was raised, and the archers above lowered their bows, the star mages led the way through the gate and towards the mountain pass that led to the plateau; upon which was built the city of Astoria. "Come on, quickly now", a mage spoke, "Arch Mage Sundari wants to see you before you go speak to the Oracle". Looking up at his sister, Zeren swallowed back his nerves, trying to remain strong for them both, "okay. Let's go see the oracle and Sundari". Walking in step with each other, the two siblings followed the star mages along the mountain pass until it opened up into a wide view; with the view of Astoria before them.

"Welcome to Astoria, young man", the tall blue skinned and black horned star touch elf spoke. "I am Arch Mage Sundari, right hand to the King Bumi, and the leader of the Apostles of Sephira". He wasn't what Eris had been expecting. For one thing Sundari wasn't old like many Arch Mages around Xadia were, instead he appeared young to middle aged, and second there was an aura about him that stank of misfortune. "His majesty apologises for not being here to welcome you but he has come down with a case of Womproot sickness". Eris had to bite her tongue at that point, 'womproot sickness indeed, he just doesn't want to be associated with a human'. Clenching her hand into a fist, not the one being held onto by her brother, she became aware of the presence of several glaive wielding elves in heavy armour approaching them. "Stay close", she whispered to Zeren, as the Arch Mage held his staff high in the air and drew a crisscross rune of parallel lines and curled around them was a trial of stars.

"Lumiere de Nuit". The starlight that shown down for the rune swirled around Zeren before settling down and forming into a crescent shaped mark on both his and Eris's faces. "That is a mark of sanctity, all those that meet the Oracle are required to have been marked. Now let us proceed".


	7. Chapter 7: The Oracle Mother Aughra

Chapter 7: The Oracle; Mother Aughra

All fours sides of the Temple of Sephira were surrounded by columns, supporting a decorative frieze spanning the entire complex, depicting carved elves from legends past or from histories recent. And high above, floating in the air was the Orrery, the private residence of the Oracle, when she wasn't delivering divine wisdom, deciphering texts of providence or skulking about the temple in her old age. Yet, such was the life of oldest and wisest of the six elven oracles, she was still incredibly well respected, trusted and honoured.

Mother Aughra was said to be as old as Xadia itself, having personally known the former dragon kings and named two of them; tended to have the affect of making her a huge deal across the elven world. However, when dark magic was discovered and granted usage by the traitorous Aavaros, to the humans, the star touch elves found themselves shunned. The blame for Aaravos's betrayal of his own species was squarely laid at the feet the star touch elves as a whole, resulting in fewer and fewer travellers seeking out Auhgra's knowledge. Short and stout, Aughra was a female star touch elf of over nine hundred years of age, the only elf in Xadia who remembered the Age of Peace; the era when humans and elves lived side by side before rage and resentment took ahold in the hearts of men. Aughra herself never, truly blamed the humans for wanting to have the better living conditions, that magic allowed elves to live.

As a result of her more accommodating views towards teaching pure magic to humans, she was risen to the rank of Arch Mage of Sephira. However, after the defeat of Aaravos, the destruction of his order and the ceiling of humanity; Aughra returned to Astoria as an Oracle, seeking repentance for beginning a war of attrition between the human east and elven west. The dragons, content in their victory over the dark mages; human and elven, loosened their vengeance against Auhgra due to her accurate divinations and foresight abilities. "Mother Aughra..." a servant spoke, breaking her from her meditation, beneath a willow tree. Keeping her eyes shut, Auhgra clicked two fingers together; a signal she often used to imply annoyance at being interrupted. "I'm sorry for interrupting your meditation... High Oracle... but the boy you said you saw in a vision is here to see you". The moment she heard those words, there was a blinding light erupting from a third eye that opened in her forehead, after which Aughra jumped to her feet opening her remaining two eyes, and looking towards the servant.

"Well. Where is he?" She spoke in a harsh tone, conveying more annoyance that the servant hadn't brought the boy with him to her directly, and that she would have to go to him. "The boy is with Arch Mage Sundari at the moment at the Pool of Incandescence", the servant replied, flinching at being addressed so harshly. "The Arch Mage asked to speak to the boy first before you arrived..." he was interrupted by the tap tap tap of Aughra's walking stick in the stone floor, as the oracle began to briskly vacate the mediation sanctum. "Then I will skin him alive!" Aughra snapped as she disappeared from view out of the inner courtyard and down through the cloisters corridors. Taking that as his cue to follow, the servant hurried after the oracle to announce her arrival, and to try and diffuse the anger brimming in her eyes. "Please, Mother Aughra! Refrain from excessive shouting in front of the Arch Mage... you'll get reprimanded again".

"Arch Mage Sundari... would you kindly vacate my temple!" Speaking though clenched teeth, Aughra entered the Room of Harmony; where the Pool of Incandescence was. Pointing her cane outwards, like a sword, she wrote a rune in the air which then unleashed a spiral of wind directly at Sundari making him back away. "Mother Aughra", the Arch Mage retorted, plucking leaves off his robes, "so good of you to join us. I had hoped for a bit of time to speak with young Zeren first, but as you're now here", he turned back towards the boy; placing a hand on his shoulder, "we can finish our conversation later". Moving away form the pool of shimmering water, from which rose up stalactites which came together forming a bowl containing pure gem like water.

Eris frowned at the sight of the elderly grey haired elf walking towards her little brother; if anything this Mother Aughra looked dismissively sulky. Certainly no one that Eris wanted anyone near Zeren, the only reason she had refrained from moving forwards had been the look of begrudging respect and deference in the Arch Mages eyes. "So you're the promised Light of the Seven", Aughra uttered, sitting down on a stone bench next to the pool. "The light of the what...?" Zeren replied trying not to show disrespect, "I was told you wanted to speak to me?" It was then that Aughra noticed another person, standing off to the side, their hands twitching towards the sword at her hip. "Easy young lady", Aughra smirked, "Unlike Sundari, I am no threat to either of you. I only wish to understand why you seem to be a recurring character in my prophetic visions".

As Aughra led Zeren, and Eris, away from the pools of incandescence they passed many statues of purple and red robed elves their hands raised in acts of prayer. "These are all the Oracles past, specifically here at Astoria... the other elves no longer recognise the Temple of Sephira anymore". Moving on further they were met by two servants, who pushed open two gilded large oak doors, "everything is prepared Mother Aughra", they bowed before following them into the vaulted chamber and kneeling down at the doors. Please kneel down before the fire, both of you", the oracle asked tapping the ground with her cane, the blue flames casting unnerving shadows on the walls and ceiling. "You are Zeren Amari... sole survivor of humanities butchery of your family. Look into the flames, try to move them with your mind". Eris rolled her eyes at the vagueness of the instructions given, before whispering to Zeren, "concentrate on the flames. Feed them with your breathing, and don't fight them".

Taking his sisters advice, but remaining to look at Aughra through the blue hued flames, Zeren felt a sense of a excitement course through him. A warmth, fire, through his veins. "Is this..." he stuttered, "what it feels like to have flame magic or to be a sunfire elf?" Aughra guffawed in amusement, whereas Eris playfully swatted her bother on the shoulder. "The elves of Xadia each have their own arcanum as you already know, and when tapped into it gives them a feeling of invincibility and comfort. As you're a human, the last that can wield primal magic, you have just begun to tap into the Sun arcanum. The others, I will teach you here. And your life experiences will help to further the other arcanum, but for now I want to tell you about a Song". Taking a handful of red powder from a bowl, Aughra dropped it into the flames creating a burst of purple surrounding the three persons; connecting them in one singular vision.


	8. Chapter 8: Song of Xadia

Chapter 8: Song of Xadia

_"Along time ago, seven hundred thousand years in fact, the world was visited by a race of creatures called Urskeks. The Urskeks came from beyond the stars; from another world. They bewitched and beguiled the ancient elves with tales of the heavens and of mighty celestial giants. Back then the elves didn't live as six tribes each protected by one arcanum, they lived by all six arcanum's and under the protection of one leader. His name was Licht._

_The elves were so enthralled by the Urskeks that they never once held any secrets back from their guests. A decision that doomed them and the world. Yet, as there was never... any reason to be mistrustful, humans were not around yet and the only other living creatures were the dragons, given that and that fact that there was so little evil in the world, the elves were content in their belief of the innate goodness of all living things was uniformly correct. Never having met any sort of duplicity before._

_As a result they paraded their greatest power, the Crystal known as, the Heart of Xadia, to the Urskeks, who in turn gave Licht the power light magic; as well as the means to observer, learn and travel the stars. Which he did, he left the elf tribe and created his Orrery high atop the Yungtang Mountains, far in the west of Xadia, and remained there learning the secrets of and travelling the heavens. With their leader absent, the elves divided into six branches; the elves of Sun, Moon, Earth, Water, Sky and Star. Each new tribe elected ruling families and territories with Xadia to call their own. However, they soon leant the magics they once wielded were significantly weaker now that they were now diminished to their own defined sub tribes, now that they separated from Licht. One arcanum for each new tribe._

_In Licht's absence the Urskeks raised a castle in the wetlands, an area perpetually surrounded by water, marshes and salt banks. This land was chosen for one reason, it is impossible for any army to march across, let alone attack. I know Dragons aren't exactly bound by land, as they rule the skies but the Skeksis as other worldly beings knew exactly how to deal them. And so deep within their castle walls, they began experimenting upon the Heart, draining its power into their own bodies prolonging their lives; defying death. The corruption of nature that occurred as a result of the Heart being used in such a manner resulted four plagues that swept across Xadia, all at different times, and all with a two thousand year gap between them._

_And yet, something happened on the day of the last plague, four hundred years ago. The corruption split the Urskeks in two: One being became two. The Skeksis and the Mystics, greed versus wisdom. The mystics fled into the wildness of the world whereas the Skeksis retained the original castle and control of the Heart. And from then on, the castle became even more difficult to attack from all who sought to find it. Dragons and elves cursed their blindness and naïveté, they swore to protect what little they had left of their lands; bitter at being tricked and bitter towards Licht for leaving them. Which were two other reasons for the ancients elves moving away from being a centralised people to being spread across Xadia. A better way of monitoring their homeland, as well as keeping tabs on the enemy._

_The plagues that swept across the continent were called the darkening. It killed many elven warriors and mages, but far worse was what it did to those it left alone. Those poor souls were corrupted by the darkening, turned into wraiths that fed the souls of other elves and the fledging human race. The wraiths wandered the lands for centuries, alone and hungry but after the Urskeks were split in two those wraiths swore eternal loyalty to the new Skeksis Emperor, and they became the Shadow Guard. The darkening also affected some of the animals of Xadia, the giant spiders, or the Arathim, who dwelled in the forests were consumed by the darkness and so became the Ascendancy._

_The darkening wasn't truly discovered or understood, to my shame, until four hundred years ago at the tail end of the last plague routing. Back then, as now, Licht remained absent. Our greatest leader and our greatest mage, was still travelling the universe. So in their desperation, the then leaders of the six tribes of elves took up arms and attempted to besiege the Skeksis castle but their armies was decimated, even dragons fell from the sky that day. I was there, I saw everything. The wetlands became sodden with blood, and were renamed the Dark Kingdom. We were completely helpless against this otherworldly foe, in the end the survivors bent the knee and surrendered. The skeksis allowed the survivors to live but the lands of Xadia were forever changed. The breach was once a verdant green valley home to extraordinary plants and animals, and with several waterfalls at various levels all leading to the sea. But the Skeksis Scientist used an unknown power to detonate the underground volcanoes transforming the land into a border of lava and ash._

_And so the damage was done. The corruption of the Heart allowed darkness into the world, and slowly over thousands of years it festered until the point where it became noticeable and far too late to push it back. By the time humanity became a noticeable presence, the darkening had become a field of intense experimentation for for your species. And the elves didn't like that one bit. It all cam to a head one hundred years ago when the greatest minds of elven Arch Mages and, for the first time, guardian dragons were affected by the darkening. And as a result they created and gave to humanity, Dark Magic._

_And it all culminated with Aaravos's research, him being the most prevalent, corrupt and knowledgeable of all the fallen elves. His view was that the six arcanums constituted light, but where was is light there would always be darkness. Which he called the 'seventh arcanum', and bestowed his teachings upon humanity so they could better their own future. But, dark magic is the taking of primal magic from living beings, invariably killing them, and then using that magic by humans mages to do whatever they wanted._

_A new form of darkness befell Xadia, and the realms of men and elves were thrown into war. It only ended when Aaravos was defeated and imprisoned in an another dimension. His followers were slain in battle and the all humans exiled to the west, splitting the continent in two. Some said it was poetic irony, for the Urskeks divided themselves over power and then continent following in their footsteps. But I say as long as the Heart remains corrupted, another age of darkness; either by dark magic or the darkening, is only a matter of time away. Only, now the world is severely limited in its ability to deal with either of those disasters, or god forbid Aaravos's return._

_Everyone and everything that was created to defeat the first surge of dark magic is now known only to a few, and those few are so many centuries old that they are probably not be long for this world. Longevity is nice but it is isolating, and yet those pure of heart and pure of magic stand by a code of conduct. For we know that we are mortal and we will die, and we will be returned to Xadia, and we accept that. However, those that desire immortality are not known for being encumbered by morality. Weaknesses become tantamount to death, and nothing short of perfection is allowed to persist. The Urskeks knew this but since their split, the Skeksis lacked their other half to quell their desire life and power. They must be defeated by bringing together both broken halves, as well as mending the broken Heart. And that is where the flames showed me, you, Zeren Amari._

_A human that protects and saves Xadia will be seen by all elves and dragons as the symbol of redemption for humanities delving into dark magic, as well as the fallen dark elves, and the salvation of the Urskeks. Somehow you, Zeren are key to this journey. How so, I do not know, all the flames tell me is that through you, somehow, Xadia will turn to. Moreover, the flames tell me of companions, both human and elf, that harbour loss in their hearts due to the conflict and ongoing disdain and mistrust between their two races, but still they seek to protect people beyond their species. Friendships that transcend lifetimes... between time and space, a will of utter determination and iron clad resolve shall remake families in a thriving green anew world and outside their respective cities, trust and love will protect them. A boy and a girl, salvation and redemption, it all begins with a boy and a girl._

_And atop a cloud piercing mountain a demon will attempt to slay a dynasty but they will stay their hand, and a sacrifice will be made instead. Yet, none shall know of said sacrifice, believing desertion over honour; and the memories remembered will be attained through resentment and anger. Meanwhile, beneath the clouds, a king will bask in victory whilst a schemer revels in his plots, seeking to oust his mentor and friend. A choice will have to be made, one out of grief but will also provide character building for a future generation to learn from._

_The Skeksis will be more involved now than they've ever been in nearly fifty thousand years, seeking to destroy anyone wanting to repair the Heart of Xadia. Maintaining their power and their experiments. Vigilance and a healthy amount of paranoia would do thee, and thou well, of course don't let it poison your attachments"._


	9. Chapter 9: Hidden for Centuries

Chapter 9: Hidden for Centuries 

Skekso, the Skeksis Emperor, stood over a gorge deep beneath his castle attempting to have his staff absorb the power of the mysterious purple darkness that veined its way through the bedrock of the continent, and originated here in this unground cave breath the crystal. The Darkening, what he called it, was only now; centuries after being brought into existence, beginning to infect plants and animals in the wider Xadian world. Ever since the first war, SkekSo had known that eventually he and his fellow Skeksis would be drawn into another war with the elves, and as a result, in secret, the Emperor experimented with using the Darkening as a weapon, infusing it into his staff and willingly sacrificing bits of his own body for the greater power that the darkening would bestow on him.

The theory behind his workings was that if he could wield it, at will, the darkening then the empire he built, and presided over, would be secure for all of time, and there would be nothing the elves, humans and dragons could do to remove him and his brethren from power. Moreover, he and the other skeksis would be have a means of subduing as many elves and dragons that could be then used in the scientists experiments to prolong their lives. His rule would be secure, and all from the comfort of his throne, and without loosing any land he ruled; from the shadows.

Ever since they were split asunder, the Skeksis and the Mystics had rarely interacted with each other, however the only Skeksis that dodo did meet its other half was expelled from the castle upon pain of death if they ever returned. SkekGra, the Conqueror, along with his other half; the Mystic known as the Wanderer, had attempted to persuade the other skeksis of the need for them to be made whole again but alas they were ridiculed and called heretics. And so the two halves went into exile founding a temple atop a single mountain pinnacle, the Circle of the Sun. The Heretic, as SkekGra now called himself, along with his Mystic split half, UrGo the Wanderer, became soothsayers looking out for, and preparing for, a time when they would be required. And in their centuries of waiting, their forged the Dual Glaive, a double bladed sword that could be split at become two swords, which they would give to whomever their visions told them it would most be of use to.

And as soon as they received the right vision, they would finally be able to united as one being again, and Xadia would know true peace. he would be able to put his attempts to the test.

Elsewhere, exploring from the shadows and singularly satisfied with hunting tough opponents as well as creating and blaming chaos on the humans against the elves, was SkekMal. The Hunter. SkekMal was the only skeksis that refused to be tied down to one place out of the whole of Xadia, and had chosen to wander the lands of Xadia, in the shadows, for just shy of eight hundred years now; learning about the elves and dragons ; and lately the human civilisations, ensuring that they stayed bitter and divided and that they never began to hope for a detente in their hostilities.

Hope, could become such a measure that could potentially unite all of Xadia against the skeksis, not that the humans knew anything about the Skeksis and the Mystics; humanity was still a newly born child in relation to the Skeksis. Still though a divided continent was useful, humans provided the Emperor and

his cohorts with unknowing proxies, through which he could further sow hated and mistrust amongst the elves and humans. A furtive breeding ground for distraction and subterfuge, it had been SkekZok; the Ritual Master, who had been behind the original idea to pit humanity and elves against each other. And SkekMal was the instigator in every moment of bloodshed that arose between the East and West halves of Xadia.

"Sporting", was all the ritual master said before the plan was eventually picked up upon and enhanced by the Chamberlain, SkekSil, who was put in charge of the orchestrating and spreading of dissent and chaos throughout all Xadia. To the annoyance of SkekMal; as his hunt had now become a game played by the Chamberlain, ready for whenever the lesser beings began another revolt. "The hunt is all that matters, and I will always get my trophies!" SkekMal raged upon hearing the changed plan for the first time but since then the Hunter had become more receptive to the grand game and the webs of lies and deceit that the Chamberlain spread. Humans, elves and dragons were not safe from SkekSil's fake news.

As far as preparation went, SkekTek; the Scientist, had been prioritising a means of obtaining a different way for the Skeksis to maintain their immortality. And seeing as the Crystal was no longer granting its power to the Skeksis, the Scientist was hard at work experimenting on ways to reverse the polarity of the Crystal so it could 'take' sacrifices and then use the taken innate magic from the sacrifices and then enhance and prolong the Skeksis lives. SkekTek was the only one of his kind that was interested in the physical and psychological aspects of Xadia; desiring to capture elves and dragons, and then experiment on them. However, presently all his work had been done in his lab without test subjects, due to the need to keep their enemies at arms length, "only when we need to draw the attention of the lesser beings", the Emperor ordered, "and when you are sure that your reverse polarisation of the crystal will produce us essence. Will we make our presence to the world known again".

A plan that very nearly became directive, and beholden unto the Scientist, was put forward by the Chamberlain to seek out weak pitiful humans and elves, that no one would miss or notice went missing and capture them for the furthering of research experiments. However, the General, SkekVar and the Scroll Keeper; SkekOk, stated that despite the advantages it would create the risk of elves and dragons sensing a depleted aura of elves and tracking them back to the castle, would be highly probably. Of which the result would be a war too soon. The plan was shelved for the time being but the Emperor retained the right to invoke the Chamberlains plan some time in the future. "Until a point in time where we are ready to conquer; we will bide our time", the Emperor stated, as the General bowed his head in submission. "Meanwhile", SkekOk relied, "I shall continue to build my library on the human realm, they may be primitive, but they do so entertain me".

One Hundred years after the Last Darkening

It was amongst a hot summer day when the Scroll Keeper emerged from his library and shoved aside the Poddling servants making his way, with all deliberate speed, to the throne room. "Oh my goodness! This is unexpectedly dangerous — a blip in the works..." the Scroll Keeper bemoaned. On his way to deliver his news, SkekOk was interluded by the arrival of the Collector, SkekLak. "Its so wonderful to see you SkekSo", SkekLak spoke. "The rest of us have been worried you might have died in your library and we would be left with a pile of useless papers", the Collector laughed.

SkekSo turned his head and replied, tersely, "what I have discovered is concerning, threatening even, to us... by the Apostles of Sephira". SkekLak stopped her laughter and suddenly looked hungry for war. "The elves... are they mobilising". Shaking his head, SkekOk replied, "they are not. But there appears to be a great destiny written about a human child. Wherein, something of great intrigue is going on within the confines of the mountains".

Moving along, though, the dark dank corridors of the castle, SkekOk grimaced at the wall decorations: skulls, flayed skins and blood vials hanging form hooks, all brought back by the Hunter. "Why do you think he persists in creating such unsightly decorations?" He asked, placing a hand on the door before him, but not pushing it open yet. "They are his trophies I suppose. I do not understand SkekMal, but I will not stand in his way", SkekLak replied. "Besides, as he would say... the hunt is all that matters! Hunting down and killing lesser beings for the sheer glory of killing". Pushing open the throne room doors, the Collector and the Scroll Keeper were met by the sounds of the massive ornate organ and drums being played above, by the Poddling servants, for the Emperors jollity. And beside him was the Chamberlain and the General.

"Excuse the interruption my Emperor", SkekOk spoke bowing his head, "I bring news most urgent". Raising his arm, and beckoning with his clawed hand, SkekSo signalled for silence. "And what pray tell, what have you found to be so urgent that you deign to disturb my music?" From the right hand-side of the throne, the Chamberlain approached and whispered into the Emperors right ear. "...Interesting", SkekSo muttered, beckoning SkekOk forward. "Speak, Scroll Keeper".

"Whilst going about my duties, researching and reading my documents about and amongst the six elven tribes, I have discovered a prophecy or destiny. It concerns a human child, that it is said will one day return peace back to Xadia". Walking forwards, SkekOk handed a book over to the Emperor, before stepping back and continuing his tale, "the Star Touch elves are by far the most scholarly of the elves, and as such it was easy, and fun, for me to locate a few books I wanted. This human child, along with his accomplices, will seek out the Crystal shards bringing them all together and reforming them into the missing part of the Heart. That if reunited with the Heart of Xadia, will undo everything we have done".

The Emperor sat up in his throne and gripped his staff, involuntarily releasing waves of darkness across the chamber floor. "And where is this child now?" SkekSo's voice was steady, but the three skeksis in the room could all hear the bubbling anger beneath the surface. "It may not be him, but I have found a human child within Xadia" SkekOk started, "and he currently resides in the town of Somerton, though at present he is in Astoria with the old hag, Mother Aughra".

"Then perhaps we should monitor the boy", the Chamberlain pipped up. "Whilst a threat this prophecy is, a human child can be turned away from his destiny by dark means... if true about the boy then corrupt him to darkness, and then add him to your collection of fallen idols. Your majesty", SkekSil finalised. "We can bring him to our side, or kill him. But either way, loss of hope equals our advantage".


	10. Chapter 10: Farewell Celebrations

Chapter 10: Farewell Celebration

Zeren hated today. For tomorrow, on his sixteenth birthday, he was going to be taken away by Golden Knights of Lux Aurea back to the Breach and returned to the human realm; to a life that he remembered very little of, knew no one there and would no doubt find extremely difficult being around humans again. Geencha and Otar had begged the leaders of the Moonshadow elves to intervene and allow Zeren to remain in Somerton, even some other elves in town spoke up in favour of him being allowed to stay.

However the elders decided that they couldn't go against the words of the Arch Dragon Sol Regem and the Dragon King Avizandum. Therefore, the night before he was due to be taken back to the Breach, Zeren was thrown a massive celebration by his family and the entire town. Tears and sadness were aplenty and displeasure towards the dragons decision was rife, yet despite his own growing despair, Zeren kept a smile on his face.

Juri even returned from the Storm Spire to see his adored brother again, and the older elf took great pride in declaring Zeren his 'true little brother'. A sentiment that well and truly ended Zeren's attempts to not show his sadness. Tears trickled down his face as he embraced both his brother and then sister, before being gathered up in the arms of his mother and father. Wiping away her sons tears, Geencha placed a kiss to his forehead before putting a leather cord necklace around him, from which hung three items; a shard of purple crystal, a small silver tag; which held the engraved sketches of their whole family, and lastly, a small golden sphere which opened up to reveal a small purple amethyst inside.

"Wherever you go, remember we will always be your family, and our love will travel with you". Geencha and Otar's words brought even more tears seeping from his eyes, just as some moon mages began to use their illusion magics to conjure up various wondrous exciting creatures, dancing and prancing around to the joy of many assembled young elflings.

"Come on!" Juri uttered, dragging Zeren towards an awaiting sky wing elf, "I know you have your primal magic to defend yourself, but I want Loron here to bestow a magic upon you that will be an extra shield". The sky wing mage didn't look like much; short bespectacled and with wild black hair, Loron didn't look like a mage but seeing as mages possessed different magical attributes and appeared so counter to what humans believed, Zeren mentally slapped himself for being involuntarily prejudiced. "What sort of magic? If it's that gas spell, I don't want anything to do with it", he replied scowling at the memory from early days in Xadia, when being teased by a horrid putrid smelling green gas that some local sky wing elf kids had conjured.

Perplexed, and slightly peeved, Loron pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose and raised an eyebrow. "If you are insinuating that I, a mage of the sky wing elves, would endow you with something so unbecoming as that, then you should hold your tongue in future". In response, Zeren looked abashed and apologetic as he bowed his head mumbled an embarrassed apology, before being playfully smacked by Eris, for 'inadvertently' shaming a mage. It was then that Loron re approached Zeren this time placing a ring of willow branches intertwined with flowers of acanthus, jasmine, foxgloves, aconites, mistletoe, melo-daisies, sun flowers, blue-moon roses and black burdock upon his head.

"You are a special child, Zeren Amari. To be accepted and raised amongst elves, even for six years, is unheard of but as of tomorrow you will be departing Xadia for the human realm", Loron spoke, loudly.

"As you have been blessed by the Arch Mage of Astoria and by the High Oracle, Mother Aughra, I bestow upon you the ability to transform into a bird of your choosing. Flight is my gift to you, young Zeren".

Eris immediately spun around to Juri and glowered at her sibling, "what the hell! This will only set him apart from the other humans, Zeren told us he just wants to fit in. This doesn't seem like fitting in to me!" Juri frowned looking sad and worried, "I just want our brother to have something that can get him out of danger quickly. We all know about the humans killing Zeren's human relatives". Both Juri and Eris didn't miss the flinch that Zeren exerted, at hearing the massacre of his human relatives and the division of their allies. And whilst he wasn't looking forward to leaving his new family, the ones he utterly and truly adored, he also understood that his presence in Xadia was begging to worry and concern the the other elven clans.

"I accept you gift, mage of the sky wing elves, Loron", Zeren announced allowing the aforementioned mage to paint markings on his face and arms. "Lunaris vacuo, aeros pleinus. Semper Fidelis". A shimmering silver and green hue surrounded him, as the magic enveloped Zeren and began the metamorphosis. 'A crow... I wish to be able to change into a crow', he mentally asked the spell. As the magic took shape, he found himself feeling lighter, moreover his vision and hearing became more pronounced. His arms changed into wings, his body shrunk down into the more aerodynamic body of a bird; covered in slick black feathers and his feet were now small talons.

Oohs and aww's began to sound off around him turning his head he saw the faces of Eris and Juri, both smiling. "Remember those words... Lunaris vacuo, aeros pleinus" Loron spoke, "they are the spell activate. To return to normal utter the phrase finalmente pleinus".

Taking a deep breath, Zeren internally spoke the return spell, and realised that he must have been flying as he hit the ground hard. "You'll get used to landing and de transforming", Loron chuckled. "As for now, you have party to rejoin". Immediately, and without letting him readjust to the ambience of celebration, several elves rushed forwards and lifted him into the air and paraded him through the streets of Somerton; cheering for their 'advocate human'. "Hey, you alright little brother?" Eris's voice reached his ears, "yeah! I'm great, this is great!" He replied as he was lifted into the air and carried past, a grin plastered on his face.

"He'll be fine", Juri spoke, putting a hand on his sisters shoulder. "Between his innate primal magic, his new crow form and the education we have given him, he will be prepared for life in the human realms", Juri responded, wiping away a tear. "Yeah..." Eris whispered, "but for how long".

Eris was about to respond again, tersely, when their father Otar approached them and gently pushed them apart, "stop arguing you two. We are all protecting Zeren in our own ways. Be it with a transformation spell, magic stones from me and Geencha or swordsmanship..." he stated looking towards his daughter. "Now come on, tonight's a party. Zeren is trying to not show his upset, so let's show him he will always have a family here in Xadia". As they rejoined the throngs of partying, the adoptive family watched their adopted son and brother, surrounded by cheering elves, a sad smile on his face and yet it was obvious to all that despite his reticence about going home his heart would always belong to his elven family and the elves of Somerton.


	11. Chapter 11: Last Sight

Chapter 11: Last Sight

The next morning was hard for all to bare. Either through sadness or drunkenness, most of the population of Somerton; adults of course, refrained from being too vocal as the golden knights arrived. A few did make pointed remarks about the unfairness of it all, that a boy be removed from his family and sent away simply because as a human he wasn't allowed to live in Xadia, despite the fact that he had been blessed by the High Oracle and the Arch Mage of Astoria; something that usually had elves falling over themselves to obtain, as it was a symbol of belonging to Xadia and powering the fortitude to protect it.

As the squad of four sunfire elves, mounted on lion-dogs, arrived in Somerton they immediately knew that there presence was bitterly resented. Anders Florin had only been a golden knight for two weeks, and whilst he knew it was a great honour, a privilege, to serve in their prestigious ranks, a part of him believed that the golden knights had strayed too far from their original purpose as guardians of Lux Aurea, not as the personal policemen of the dragon king and queen. Sensing eyes burrowing into the back of his head, Anders turned around on his saddle and saw the stern glare of a male moon shadow elf with dark hair and blue eyes. The sky wing elf was exiting a blacksmiths, gripping the hilt of a sword tightly but not moving to draw it, it was then that Anders recognised that emblem of a golden lightning bolt pin attached to the elf's tunic and cloak, marking him as a member of the elite Dragon Guard. Anders was broken out of his musings by the voice of his captain, addressing this dragon guard.

"You there! Sky-wing elf of the dragon guard, why are you not at by the Storm Spire? What if the humans attack, you wouldn't be able to do your job!" Anders flinched at his captain, Olvolvia's, tone that dripped with contempt for humanity, and exasperation and annoyance that one of the dragon guards was absent from their duty. The elf in question narrowed his eyes at the captain before he folded his arms in front of him. "Queen Zubeia gave me the week off to spend time with my family. You are after all taking my brother away today", Juri growled, before he spun around and stalked off muttering things about 'busybody sunfire elves' and stuck up 'traditionalists'.

Captain Olvolvia was the the sister of Queen Kaaba of the sunfire elves, ruler of Lux Aurea, and as she watched that dragon guard walk away, she recognised him, he was the sky wing elf called 'Adjudicator' Juri, and one of the strongest of the current dragon guard. And his parents were the ones who had the audacity to adopt a human child, against the wishes and law of the dragons.

Yet, Juri's reaction to them arriving was no more agonising to witness than the rest of Somertons' population; every single elf was practically seething with fury at Zeren being forced to leave Xadia, now that he was at least old enough to be alone in the human realms. She didn't like it when elves disagreed upon necessary things, this being one such example. So for her, being scorned and disdained by fellow elves who supported the human boy to stay in xadia was heart aching. Still, he was human, Olvolvia thought, and human lives were fleeting when compared to centuries that elves enjoyed, the boy would die long before his elf parents and siblings.

Arriving outside the house where they were told the boy lived, Captain Olvolvia ordered her vice captain, an eighteen year old sky wing elf, Merian to go collect the boy and bring him to them. "Where is the the boy?" The vice captain uttered, dismounting her lion-dog and moving towards where Otar and Geencha stood. The two sky wing elves standing beside one another holding hands. "Zeren is inside..." Geencha stammered. Otar turned to go inside, when he was stopped by two more sunfire elves crossing his path with their swords. "If you don't mind," the vice captain spoke, "I'll find him myself. "It is our duty to take him back to the human realm". Both Otar and Geencha scowled at the mention of how they were seen by the wider elven population, and overtly by this golden knight squad, who seemed to condemn them for harbouring a human. Sweeping past them, vice captain Merian entered the house and began seeking out the boy.

As she made her way down the hall, Merian heard voices coming from a the back. One was young, probably the boy, and the other other was that of his elven sister, the sky 'huntress' mage, Eris. The voices were strained with emotion, both obviously trying not to break down fully into tears but at the same they were comforting and supportive. And even though she was in the corridor, Merian could hear them clearly. "Remember," Eris stated, "don't mention your last name to anyone. Your human family was murdered, and if word reaches the kings of the Pentarchy that an Amari has survived, they will hunt you." From behind the door Merian listened, and unusually for her, she began to feel sorry for the boy. To be lost in the world without their birth family, and now loosing their adoptive one too, she realised that she couldn't just rip them apart until they had a proper goodbye.

"And one more thing", Eris added, "remember what dad told us about the three faction of your families former supporters; the rogues, militancy and the faceless order. They're not friends to you now, the groups are dangerous dark mages, mercenaries and alchemists. They would use you to further their aims or hand you over to any of the Pentarchy's constituent kingdoms". Then taking a moon opal from her pocket, Eris placed in into a silver pendant and hung it around Zeren's neck before finally embracing her adopted brother, it was then that captain Merian decided to make her entrance.

Pushing open the door to the smallish living room, she saw a central table with cushions around it; presumably where the family ate together. On the walls were paintings of family members as well as a few landscapes of the surrounding area, against two walls were long cabinets full of books and various assortments of pottery; Geencha as the towns resident healer had many books on medicine. There as a large window with embroidered curtains immediately to the right of the door, washing the room in daylight, and then the main room was connected, by means of a sliding doors, to the kitchen to the back, bedrooms and washrooms were back out of the door and along the corridor. Her heart broke at the sight of the adoptive siblings, tear streaked faces. "It is time, young human", Merian spoke, as calmly as she dared, as she made her way into the room, "you must return to the human kingdoms. You are allowed to say your goodbyes outside before we depart for the breach".

The look upon the boy's face was heart bracingly numb, despite him being sixteen, it was clear that he was nervous and frightened about returning to a land he didn't remember. Taking several steps forwards, Zeren bowed his head slightly to the sunfire elf vice captain before falling into step behind her, as Eris followed behind them. Walking out of the living room, along the corridor and towards the main front door and towards the waiting lion-dogs outside. As soon as they left the house, the boy was swept into the arms of Geencha and Otar; one last time, both adopted parents openly crying at saying goodbye to their human son. It was then that Juri reappeared and dropped to his knees before Zeren and drew him into a tight embrace, "stay safe. Never forget how loved you are by us".

Eris then moved forwards carrying something wrapped in hessian cloth. "For protection in circumstances where magic draws too much attention", she spoke handing the parcel over. With a look of surprise and happiness on his face Zeren unfolded the cloth parcel, revealing a pair of twin rosewood-sky iron daggers, engraved with the runes for honour and courage. Throwing his arms around his sister, the boy wept, before finding himself engulfed by his whole family one final time. "Enough!" The stern voice of Captain Olvolvia uttered, "we are on a tight schedule, and we need to leave now if the boy is to be returned to the human lands before sundown". Juri instantly spun around and drew his bow releasing an arrow straight towards the captain, who sliced it in half with her sun forge blade.

"Don't you dare mock us", Juri snarled as he reached for another arrow but was stopped by his father Otar. "Don't. The captain is within her rights to state the lateness of the hour, but she could have done so in a less condescending way", Otar diffused, nodding his head to the leader of the golden knights. 'Humph' Olvolvia uttered turning up her nose and moving her lion-dog off initiating the departure. Giving his family a final tearful smile, Zeren walked over to the vice captain's lion-dog and climbed onto its back. "Hold on tight", Merian uttered, before nudging the creature onwards and making the boy immediately hold onto the vice captains waist. Turning back one last time, he realised that the lion-dog had moved off so far that the distance between them and the house he had grown up in was already quite large, meaning all he could see were the faint outlines of his elven family in the far distance, outside just standing in silent forlorn anguish.


	12. Chapter 12: Into the Breach

Chapter 12: Into the Breach

"How much further?" The question was quiet and solemnly put but as straightforward as he could possible bare, without breaking down in to a blubbering mess of tears and snot. Zeren Amari sat on the back of vice captain Merian's lion-dog holding onto her as the group of golden knight rode towards the Breach. "Not much further", Captain Olvolvia replied tersely, "you'll be back with other humans soon". As soon as those words reach him, Zeren choked back a sob, that sounded like a combination of a cough and a sneeze. Sensing the boy's distress but without turning around, she placed her hand on his hands around her waist, and gently squeezed. "Remember Otar, Geencha, Juri and Eris. Don't forsake their love and their teachings".

Zeren simply held onto Merian, partly for balance whilst riding a lion-dog but also as a means of conveying his thanks for her sympathy and kindness. Eventually, with the ever continuing riding Zeren fell asleep, his face resting against the small of Merian's back to her embarrassment, and the closer the group got to the Breach the more conflicted she became about whether or not expelling a human who had no human family was the right thing to do. And ever so slightly her conviction and belief in the dragons judgements began to slip.

Turning her head ever so slightly, Merian couldn't help but run her eyes over the boy's face. He was quite attractive for a human, yet as soon as that thought entered her brain she shook her head dislodging that train before it could continue foe the tracks. A wild blush was spread across her cheeks, and she silently pleaded that her other golden knights hadn't noticed, human and elf couples were soo deeply frowned upon and soo taboo; it was practically an automatic banishment for anyone who broke that rule. She had always tried to live the life of a dutiful girl in service to Lux Aurea, and as a golden knight uphold her honour as the sky wing elf to be inducted into the elite forces of the Sunfire elves.

Zeren didn't remember when he had fallen asleep but when he awoke, the group having arrived at the gorge with its lava falls and lava river, he was instantly flustered and embarrassed at using vice captain Merian as a pillow; and from the flustered look on her own face Zeren knew she was embarrassed as well. "Hey, get to your feet", the stern faced captain spoke, scowling in his direction, and then sending a withering glare at Merian as well. As he walked he heard the captain quietly reprimand her deputy, "your fat too familiar with him. It's unbecoming in a golden knight. Especially, the youngest sister of royalty". He wanted to defend the vice captain and he was about to open his mouth to do so, when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. Looking up he saw another sunfire elf shake her head in a very definite don't to him, so he held his tongue for proprieties sake and to protect Merian from appearing defiant.

Suddenly feeling a renewed sense of loneliness and depression hitting him, Zeren moved his hand to the moonstone pendant and the silver and crystal necklace from his mother and sister, trying to reign in his fear and grief. "Okay", a voice spoke, "lets go". Dismounting the lion-dog, he followed Merian, and Olvolvia down the cliff path along the gorge avoiding the lava falls and unstable surfaces. "The humans have a border outpost here in the Breach", the captain spoke, "we will take you there, wherein you will be 'saved' by those within". It was then that Merian turned and spoke to him, "once you're inside the garrison, the humans will no doubt ask you how you came to be in Xadia..."

Holding back tears, Zeren managed to respond, "I will say I was travelling on a ship with my parents from Evenere to Katolis when a storm struck. And as a result I washed up in Xadia, where I was taken prisoner and then marched back to the border".

The vice captain nodded her head in acceptance of the statement, where else captain Olvolvia clenched he fists and growled, under her breath, something that sounded like 'inferior pest'. Suddenly, an arrow shot forwards and missed the captain, who drew her sun-forged blade slicing it in two. "It's an attack!" The cries of human soldiers from further on down the winding cliff trial, "for the good of the Pentarchy, protect the border!" Before Zeren could even try and quell any further escalations of violence, Captain Olvolvia had climbed back on to her lion-dog and was ordering a charge of the soldiers, "their actions prove their hatred of us. Defend yourselves if need be, but we will not kill". Merian pulled Zeren back on to her own lion-dog and followed her captain and the other golden knights, "hold on. We will take you to the humans directly".

The human guards upon realising that elves were in the vicinity fled back to their fortress outpost, sealing the doors behind them, and then arming themselves on the barricades above. Whilst at the same time sending out riders back to the nearest kingdom, Katolis, about the attack on the Breach.

General Tamil hailed from the kingdom of Katolis, and subscribed to the belief, like his childhood friend King Svengauld of Katolis, that the elves of Xadia were a persistent threat to the Pentarchy and that they needed to be either subjugated or destroyed. However, since jealousy had been behind the destruction of the Amari family, and the pentarchy had amalgamated all three factions supporting that family into working in coordination with them, the Pentarchy had quickly realised that they didn't possess any power that could do either of those two ideas.

Leading some people to publicly decry that the murders of the Amari family had been by elves as a way of ridding primal magic from humans, and unifying the five kingdoms against Xadia.

Yet the real reason for spreading such lies was simply to absolve and shield the five royal families of any semblance of guilt from the backlash that might occur if the truth was ever discovered. As no matter how hard any of them had tried to permanently destroy the reputations and legacy of the Amari family, the ordinary citizens still utterly adored the human primal mages, and believed that they were saints. And so the kings manipulated that adoration to best grant them continued loyalty from the peasant, workers, merchants and lower nobles. And so as result of deception and mass produced propaganda, the majority of citizens came round to the belief that the elves were responsible for the Amari's deaths.

As the Golden Knights charged at the fortress, on the gatehouse tower one of the lookouts shouted out, "General! They've got a human prisoner with them". Before General Tamil could respond, they all heard a voice form outside their fortress, the voice of a sunfire elf holding a sun-forged blade in her left hand. "Send out your general, I wish to transfer over a prisoner. After which we will leave peacefully. Unless you start anything, like those arrows you fired at us". Trying to hold his nerve, but simultaneously holding his sword tightly in his hand, General Tamil narrowed his eyes as he responded. "If I come and meet you, unarmed... you hand over your prisoner, and I will let you return to Xadia unharmed". Tamil did not mistake the slight scowl on the elf captains face when he said 'unharmed' but he knew that the main thing right now was to assure the child's safety, and away from the bloodthirsty elves.

As he walked down the steps of the battlements to the gatehouse, Tamil nodded his head to some soldiers who followed him outside. The prisoner it seemed was older than he had thought but not by much, maybe sixteen or seventeen, but age wasn't what Tamil saw. All he saw was another potential death at the hands of the elves, one that he refused to allow. Drawing his sword, and noticing the narrowed eyes suddenly alert and mistrustful, the commanding officer threw his sword down to the ground and walked forwards. "I'm here, now free the boy", he announced, coming to a stop in front of the sun fire elf captain.

Captain Olvolvia felt a burning rage surge through her body, and a desire to bifurcate this human, so hot her rage was she had to bite her to dig her nails into her palms to centre herself. But her words remained sharp and bitter. "Don't tell me what to do!" The human general narrowed his eyes and was about to respond, when Merian interrupted walking forwards with the boy following her; a sorrowful expression on his face, that almost made her rethink his plight and her duty to remove him from Xadia. "General, this is Zeren. That is all he told us when we found him washed ashore. I hope he grows up well and happy back in his homeland", Merian exclaimed noting the flinch on Zeren's face at the mention of the word 'homeland'.

Moving slowly forwards, Zeren tried desperately to not shed any tears, although he did sneak one final look back at Xadia, when he was at the generals side. Memories of home and family, forever burned into his brain; Otar, Geencha, Juri and Eris. Also the quirky, If not strangely comforting nature of the oracle Mother Aughra. "Come on Zeren, you're safe now", the general said, before nodding his head towards a man on the battlements, who gave the order to stand down. "Thank you", general Tamil stated, bowing slightly as per the arrangement of prisoner swaps with Xadia and the Pentarchy. "Return home in peace", he spoke to the elves placing a hand on the boys shoulder and directing him inside the Breach Fortress. "Out there", vice captain Merian muttered to herself, "are good people. You'll find friends".


	13. Chapter 13: A Girl's Tale

Chapter 13: A Girl's Tale

Sarai was never the girl her father wanted her to be; her mother disproved but understood her tomboyish stubborn, warrior at heart eldest daughter. Sarai was the best huntress in her small forrest village, putting seasoned and veteran male soldiers to shame. And she was only sixteen.

Her father ranted and screamed about his unruly rebellious daughter, never being able to be taken seriously as a future homemaker and bride. Perhaps that was why her mother had taken it upon herself to try and teach her more feminine pursuits, as well as toning down her warrior skills, as a way to try and lessen the unstoppable influence on her younger sister Amaya. Not that she already knew about Amaya and Sarai's midnight swordplay lessons. Their mother, wanted differently for her daughters but at the same time understood their desire to not be defined as towing the same old generic line, that most women married, had children and were controlled by their husbands. She wanted her daughters to be women in their own right with skills all their own whom didn't need to be protected but also were able and familiar with feminine activities as well, as a means of being effective warriors and wives.

And so Sarai had stubbornly relented to having her mother show her how to sew and mend clothes, plat hair and generally keep a homestead well managed. Still her mother, did nothing to dissuade swordplay as a hobby; something with Sarai and Amaya would later, as adults, love their mother for.

"Very well done", her mother, Rhea, smiled as she praised her sewing skills. At the beginning she had hated sewing but now, even if she would rather be practicing her sword skills, she had come to enjoy the quiet confidentiality of sewing. Not to mention it increased her love of her mother tenfold and it really bugged the hell out of Amaya who would always ask to watch any of her self taught sword play being undertaken. "Thank you mother", Sarai replied, brushing her brown hair out of her eyes, and smiling. "I'm working on a scarf", and spoke and signed to her sister, "It's getting cold and I want to make something myself". Just because Amaya had been born deaf hadn't in any way affected the sisterly bond the two girls shared, in fact their bond was so strong they often joked that not even the famous sun-forge blades of Xadia could break their sisterhood.

Living a country lifestyle, in a forested area, was fraught with hardships. Constant attacks on their farms by wolves, and smugglers, was continuously expensive to protect against. Whilst the wolves were accepted as a normal occurrence, the smugglers and rustlers were always difficult to predict and stop; humans were more problematic than wolves. In the long term. Hunting for food was basically mental training; in the art of subterfuge and precision striking which only served to enhance Sarai's reputation as the best hunter in the village, a role model for boys and girls whom wanted to be warriors. Still, a quiet village apart from the closest kingdom would always be isolating, almost dull in winter and autumn when there was nothing to do and the weather was too bad to really allow outside excursions.

"It's too cold" Sarai, once again, rebutted her sisters plea to go outside and spar. Both mother and oldest daughter frowned as they continued with their sewing, knowing full well how Amaya; only two years younger than Sarai, would continue to be as or more, determined than her sister. And that frightened their mother, thinking about how far her youngest daughter would go just to get something her way. "Aww come on sis" Amaya signed; scowling, "I want to learn sword skills!" A thought then entered the younger sisters mind which made her grin evilly, "you owe me... remember the show incident" she elbowed her sister. Their mother didn't need to make a sound to get her daughters to spill whatever event Amaya was using as leverage, all the mother had to do was simply raise an quizzical eyebrow and position her mouth into a half smirk. And as usual the determination on Sarai's face was overwhelmed by embarrassment, and with a quick couple of hand signs she reasoned to her traitorous sister.

"It's nothing Mom, really", Sarai announced purposely avoiding eye contact. "A couple of weeks ago, when you and dad told me to go the capital and drop off the animal pelts with the fur dealer, and the feathers at the Fletchers..." Sarai trailed off as she caught her mother's eye, "I already know Amaya snuck along with you. I was told she never turned up for her job at the village washing pool", their mother sighed. "So tell me, what did you do? And how much damage was done?" Upon seeing the look of anticipatory irritation on her mother's face, Sarai brushed some of her hair behind her ears; in a way that she did whenever she was ashamed. "It's all Amaya's fault! If she hadn't of jumped out of the back of the wagon and surprised me, I wouldn't have thrown my shoe... and they wouldn't have been hurt". Her mother was beginning to guess what had occurred, slowly she leant forwards and hugged her oldest daughter, comforting her. "Whatever the outcome I'm sure it's nothing to be ashamed of", mother assured her daughter.

Taking a large deep breath, Sarai began extolling her story. "There were some soldiers accompanying a boy, and as I was handing off the furs to the clothes maker Amaya jumped out of the wagon and surprised me. So I threw my show at her in annoyance but she ducked and my shoe hit the soldier captain on the back of the head". Sarai stopped taking as she recalled seeing the look of horror on her and her sisters faces as the soldiers spun around and immediately caused the boy of assaulting them. "The soldiers then accused the boy of attacking them, and took him off to the castle jail", Sarai finished elbowing Amaya. Her mother on the other hand had a look of extreme disappointment plastered on her face. "You let this boy take the blame..." she stated shocked that her daughter didn't own up. "I was scared mom", Sarai shuddered, "the soldiers were from the Breach. Plus the way they turned on the boy so quickly was frightening".

Guilt flooded thought Amaya as she took on the hand signals of her mother and sister, realising that perhaps her actions had not been taken as a jest. Leaning over and taking one of her sisters hands, Amaya gently squeezing it and then signed an apology for 'troublemaking and guilt'. Wrapping her arms around both her children, their mother admonished them for their behaviour and for inadvertently getting a boy in, probably, more trouble than he was already in. "But don't despair", she continued, "where ever this boy is now you don't have to worry about him. He'll be fine, King Svengauld is forgiving". Hugging them tightly their mother comforted the two girls, removing their worry and guilt.

"Okay alright, go spar outside", their mother smiled, "I wish you were more ladylike, but at the same time I will always love my twin warriors". Placing her sewing supplies and in progress scarf down, Sarai hugged her mother on last time before grabbing her sisters hand and signing "lets go spar" before both girls darted out of the house.

As she walked from a side room into the main living room of their family home, their mother was met by her husband who stood frowning as he watched his daughters sparring with other warrior-inclined girls in the village. "I thought you were going to discourage this behaviour", he stated running a hand over his face and shaking his head as he turned to face his wife.

"I was going to talk to them", the mother replied, "but we got sidetracked..." Smack. She was cut off by her husband backhanding her hard across the face, making her topple backwards to the floor clutching her cheek. "I wanted this behaviour stopped. It's unfeminine not to mention humiliating. I mean, really Dalia, to be outdone by your own daughters, every warrior in this village is seething with fury at Sarai and Amaya for wanting to be warriors, and by extension giving other girls the same idea". Slowly pushing herself to her feet, Dalia, looked towards her husband and began trying to get him to either accept his children or not be so openly resentful, whilst trying to hide her growing fear. "Please Adler, I know you're upset..."

Another smack reverberated around the room as Dalia was struck again, harder this time with the addition of hitting her head against a nearby table. "Don't you dare pity me woman!" Adler screamed, as he launched himself at his wife and latched his hands around her throat. "What do you know? You're just a breed-mare, nothing you do will ever score the same as a man!" Scrabbling around her immediate vicinity, as she felt the air being ripped from her lungs, Dalia prayed that her beloved daughters were still outside.

The last thing she wanted was for them to witness their mother's murder at the own fathers hands, and yet just as the darkness was closing in she heard running footsteps and yells. And then suddenly all the pain, fear and breathlessness vanished as she barely saw her husbands hands fly to his own throat before looking towards something oft right, as he then fell face first in a puddle of blood.


	14. Chapter 14: Daughters Resolve

Chapter 14: Daughters Resolve

Days after the death of her husband; Dalia uprooted her family and moved to the interior of Katolis. Her rationale had been to be away from this moment as quickly as possible and to be in safe proximity to the royal castle. Not once did she mention the manner of his death or his behaviour that led to it. Dalia remained quiet and reserved, she wanted to get away from the home she had believed to have been happiness for years and not have to think anymore about seeing her husband with his throat cut, with her eldest daughter crying as she dropped her sword and throwing herself down to her mother's side. Thankfully Amaya, had been outside and hadn't seen the events, but Dalia knew that despite that positive sideline; Amaya was still a smart girl and would have no doubt realised what had occurred.

As she sat at bye front of the cart, holding the reigns of and controlling the horses, laden with whatever furniture and family possessions that they desired to keep, Dalia couldn't help let slip a few tears. And out of the corner of her eyes she saw, beside her, were her two daughters; Amaya was sleeping and Sarai was holding her sword and scabbard, keeping a watch on the open road. "Mum..." Sarai asked weakly, as she briefly looked towards her mother, "you don't have to be in charge of the horses. Me and Amaya can drive and let you sleep, you need to rest".

Without taking her eyes off the horses, and the road, Dalia trembled as she replied. "I can't sleep... every time I try, I relive that moment and what you had to do".

Tears suddenly spilled down her mother's face as she spoke, causing Sarai to quickly swap positions with her, allowing herself to sit move over and let her mother embrace the sleeping Amaya. "I'm sorry mum", Sarai replied. "This is all my fault, If I had given up swords and sparring, then dad wouldn't have been so angry. It's just I don't want to be defined by being a girl, a fighter sets me apart from all the other girls, and it sets the way for others to follow if they do choose". She was then stopped by her mother, who raised her hand and looked up. "I always knew what you were trying to do. I tried to get you father to accept you as a fighter but he was too stuck in his ways... all I ever want for you and Amaya is to be happy with whatever lives you choose for yourselves".

Sarai pulled in on the reigns slightly, lessoning the horses speed, before turning to face her mother. "Mum... as long as we're staying in the capital", she asked, "I want to try and find that boy that I inadvertently got in trouble and apologise to him". Her mother initially looked perturbed but then smiled as she nodded, "if that's what it'll take to clears your conscious, then I'll support you but be careful, if he's in trouble with the crown guards he may be dangerous". Returning her attention back to the road, Sarai motioned for the horses to move off again down the country road.

Further on, they came to a toll bridge which marked the border from the common lands into the royal interior with the capital at the centre. At an impressive forty metres wide, the river Cherwell; whilst not the mightiest river, was still the biggest river in the human Pentarchy, and spanning it was the dual track bridge with three gate houses at the entrance, middle and end of it. Flying from the turrets of the middle gatehouse were the flags of the two highest ranked regional aristocratic families; and distant relatives of the current royal family, the House Silva and House Vermillion.

"Nobility..." Sarai muttered, between gritted teeth, "why do they demand so much tax from us ordinary folk". As their cart entered the queue of other people waiting to gain approval to move onwards, Amaya; who had woken up at this point, began grinning and frantically signing, 'the captains are here!' Craning their necks, and peering to the left, Dalia, Sarai and Amaya; as well as practically everyone else began to aww and cheer at the Pentarchy's squad captains. 'They must have been summoned by the King', Amaya signed; still grinning and attempting to clamber into the roof of the cart to get a better view.

Pushing back the cover over their heads, Sarai and Amaya both saw two captains ride past in their carriages; or in the case of the others on horse back. "Captains Nozel Silva and Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion... the royals who lead squads", Sarai uttered, before her mother interjected. "They may be royal but the are strong mages, leant from the Rogues. The Amari's may be gone but their knowledge and teachings can be used to help humanity grow and prosper".

'Look, it's captain Charlotte', Amaya signed, her eyes wide with adoration as she spied the tall brunette female captain riding a white horse followed by several of her squad knights. Despite being a noble, Charlotte Roselei led the only mage knight squad comprised of women, hence earning her wide acceptance and love from the citizenry, she actively encouraged women and girls from joining the military, saying that females could not be held back and they could do anything men could do. Sarai bolted upright and looked towards the blue robed, armour clad female captain, who was now looking in their direction.

Smiling to herself Charlotte Roselei reigned her horse over to the two teenage girls staring wide eyed at her and adoringly on their faces. As Charlotte Roselei appeared beside the cart, Sarai and Amaya both blushed in excitement, "Are you two, coming to enter knight tryouts?" Charlotte smiled, sensing the inherent strength and goodwill of both girls.

"We're moving to interior to live a better life, and hopefully enter the tryouts after we've trained further", Sarai stated, before being elbowed and then translating for Amaya. "My sister wants me to ask you if it's true you use briar magic, and if you would please show her? Amaya has always loved reading about you and the Blue Rose knights, she wants to join them and one day become a general". Looking over at the other girl, who was practically bouncing on her feet, Charlotte smiled before holding out her hand and manifesting a whip of rose briars before swinging it in the direction of a cart moving away. Before Amaya or Sarai could be shocked, they saw the briars rip the cart apart and send several masked raiders spiralling to the ground. "Sol", Charlotte spoke to a tan skinned black haired women beside her, "those ruffians are under arrest for attempting to smuggle stolen artefacts out of the capital!" Amazed and gleeful, Sarai and Amaya grinned at the captain before bowing their heads in deference.

"That was so... amazing!" Sarai exclaimed, as Amaya grinned, and signed, beside her, 'How old do you have to be to apply to the squads?' The captain of the Blue Rose knights turned back towards the girls, "applicants must be sixteen to sign up for the entrance exam. And if a captain picks you the you'll join that squad, yet if more than one say yes; than you get to choose which squad you can join". Charlotte reached forwards and with a soft swish of her fingers made a pair of briar broaches, which she handed over to the two girls. "When you're ready, come and take the squad entrance exam. I have no doubt you'll surprise most of us", and then she turned around and headed off back towards the toll bridge and the captains meeting in the palace.

Dalia didn't need to even look at her daughters to know that their encounter with Charlotte Roselei had only bolstered their resolve to join the squads. Specifically, the Blue Roses. "If you want to join Charlotte", the voice of the knight named Sol spoke, "you'll need to separate yourselves from all the other girls vying for her attention", Sol grinned, before walked away following her captain. As Dalia took ahold of the horses reigns and edged their cart towards the beckoning toll bridge guards, she felt Amaya wrap her arms around her and lay against her shoulder. 'They'll be fine', she mused to herself, 'they're tough warriors and will always have each other's back'. "Okay girls", she uttered, "let's create a new life in the interior of Katolis's noble lands".

"Yeah, lets!" Sarai replied, grinning and tying a blue sash around her left wrist. 'Where did you get that?' Amaya signed, before interrupting her sisters response; jealously, 'Captain Charlotte gave it to you didn't she!' Sarai signed and patted her sisters arm, 'we'll train hard, join the Blue Rose knights and then go on to be the greatest generals in the kingdom of Katolis. Maybe even in the whole Pentarchy'. As they payed the toll, and were given permission and certification for interior living, both girls smiled and looked towards the towering royal castle and massive surrounding walls built on the edge of a cliff. The villages around were protected by the castle but also received protection from the two smaller castles within the main royal complex; the twin headquarters of the Katolis branch of the Rogues.


	15. Chapter 15: Commoners and Royalty

Chapter 15: Commoners and Royalty 

Crown Prince Harrow was not usually so adamant to be involved in his fathers annual conferences with the nine squad captains, but this year; the eighteen year old, Harrow had heard that a human boy had been found inside Xadia by elves and not immediately killed on sight. Even more suspicious was that the boy was escorted by Lux Aurea's famed Golden Knights back to the Breach and returned unharmed. As a result, King Svengauld had summoned his squad captains, and told the leader of the Rogues to get to the bottom of the 'highly suspect' appearance of this boy.

Harrow despised his fathers policy towards dissenters; particularly the manner in which the Amari family was so brutally murdered. They weren't even dissenters, they were killed purely because of petty jealousy. The Amari Clan were had always been the Pentarchy's most reliable allies, and to be rewarded with treachery and death... was unbecoming and downright sinful. Crown Prince Harrow was determined to restore the honour, and favour, of that family as soon as he inherited the throne, and to hell with anyone who opposed him.

Standing next to his father, seated on the throne, Harrow watched the entrance of the nine captains; as they were announced by a palace pageboy. "From the noble houses of Vermilion and Silva, cousins of the royal family; Fuegoleon Vermillion of the Crimson Lion Kings and Nozel Silva of the Silver Eagles!" Seeing his two eldest cousins was always joyful, the third; Mereleona Vermilion, wasn't here as she was known for not suffering through tedious trite. "The captains Rill Boismortier and Charlotte Roselei, of the Aqua Deer and Blue Rose knights respectively", the page continued bowing his head as Nozel and Fuegoleon walked past him and up towards the Crown Prince. Being royal cousins and all, they were the only captains allowed to did so.

"Of the Coral Peacocks, Dorothy Unsworth", the sight of the smallish asleep young woman in a spiked hat and robes should have elicited a sharp slap as punishment for doing so in the presence of the king and crown prince, but no one reprimanded captain Unsworth as she was well respected and it was a side effect of her magic that made her excessively sleepy.

"Captain Jack of the the Green Mantises, and Captain Yami Sukehiro of the Black Bulls". Two men, of an appearance that no one with etiquette skills or a sense of decorum would ever expect to find themselves face to face with walked into the room, they were clearly commoners that had somehow risen to the level of the greatest noble warriors in the land. "Well look here", the black haired cigarette smoking-katana wielding captain stated. "Royalty and nobility, using the magic of the Amari's". From beside Yami, Jack chuckled as he extended from his arms two scythes appearing in each hand, ready for a brawl. "I do hope you all remember that..." Yami snarked, blowing a puff is smoke in the direction of the dais.

"Enough!" King Svengauld bellowed, standing upright and pointing at the two commoners. "Continue the announcements"; the king spoke to the small page boy, who fumbled with the parchment in his hands and began reading the remaining names.

"William Vangeance and Geldre Poizot, of the Golden Dawn and the Purple Orcas". Finished with the parchment, the pageboy turned around and bowed to the king before stepping back from the front of the raised dais and behind the Crown Prince. Standing up from his seat, King Svengauld looked at each of his nine squad captains in turn before addressing the room, in his usual brunt arrogance, concerning the reason for their summoning.

"You are here to aid and decide whether we should trust the word of a human boy about the truthfulness of his capture in Xadia". The kings words stunned the captains, who were all under the impression that humans caught in Xadia were killed not captured. "What... the elves let him live?" Captain Jack responded with a coughing fit. "Perhaps the elves were merciful upon a child", Charlotte interjected, only to get interrupted herself by the king.

"The boy is sixteen! The elves are usually far less merciful than this but for some reason they handed him back to the guards at the Breach, alive and uninsured. And I want to know why". No sooner than the words left the kings mouth, dread flooded through Harrow's body as he realised that his father was now so biased against Xadia; and craved any excuse to attack them, that the potential chance of the boy being a spy, would be enough for him to decree War.

Not to mention, the boy would be tortured and jailed, and that was if he was lucky enough to be found out by one of the one particular General. If he got wing of the boys presence then he really would be in trouble.

"General Aurelius", the king yelled, "bring in the boy". From the side room of the throne room, out of an alcove, appeared a tall red haired man in armour and black cloak gripping a sheathed sword and shoving forwards a dark brown haired teenage boy wearing a tunic top, breeches and boots. "Your majesty", Aurelius announced bowing his head, "squad captains", he turned the assembled audience, "this boy was handed over to the guards at the Breach. And his story is highly circumspect" he stated, pushing the boy with a force that brought him to his knees. "I agree with the general", Captain Nozel continued, "how do we know this isn't some elven plot to infiltrate the Pentarchy using a brainwashed human child as a front".

Hmph. The captain of Praying Mantises, Jack the Ripper, snorted with derision. "Surely you're joking", he grinned, "the elves are arrogant and conceited. They would rather die than pretend to be one of us, perhaps you're weird hairstyle is interfering with your perception of danger and finally addled your brain, mr vice-royalty". The look of utter contempt upon Nozel Silva's face was truly something to behold, humiliation and hatred, both vying for control, and in the end the current first born of House Silva turned away and walked over to the king. "Cousin", Nozel spoke into king Svengauld's ear, "this is still deeply concerning... this boy may be human but he was unquestionably looked after inside Xadia. That in itself demands questioning".

The king ran his fingers through his greying beard, and nodded his head before looking gesturing towards his son. "Harrow. As the future king of Katolis, you will need to make judgements like these on occasion. So, let your thoughts be heard". Immediately the entire rooms eyes and ears were directed at the Crown Prince, for whom today was his first major event of governmental power.

Taking a look at the boy, whom on his knees looked tired and almost afflicted by sadness, Harrow saw the unjustness of this prediction of duplicity, and yet the uncertainty bubbled up with it. "I think that the boy should be allowed to talk", Harrow announced, descending the dais and approaching the shackled boy. "What is you're name? And how exactly did you come to be in Xadia, speak slowly and truthfully, so me may validate you're claims".

"He won't be truthful, your grace", Nozel purred, "he's either an elven spy or a filthy pathetic commoner that was lost at sea". Harrow was about to interject when he was beaten to the punch by the usually quiet captain of the Coral Peacocks, Dorothy Unsworth who strode forth, wide awake, and stood right in Nozels face. A deep scowl across her face.

"You're all the same, House Silva and you royals! You deem all of us ordinary citizens dirty and stupid, your arrogance is soo infuriating! Thank the gods, House Vermillion has broken away from that old thinking!" With an about turn, the small twenty seven year old Dorothy Unsworth stormed out of the room, her pink cloak billowing behind her. She was followed by the Blue Rose knights captain, Charlotte Roselei echoing the same thoughts, although not as loud.

However, just as Charlotte left the room her eyes caught the glance of captain Yami, whom was smoking a fresh cigarette and very subtly nodded his head. 'He agrees with us', Charlotte mused, her face reddening, as the doors closed behind her, 'at least me and Dorothy have allies'.

Back inside the room, Harrow coughed loudly to regain the attentions of the remaining captains. "Nozel, I understand you're concerns about hidden elven plots. My mother, like yours, was killed by assassins sent from Xadia", that news startled the captains of lower social status; Yami, Jack, Geldre, and Rill. To William and Fuegoleon however, this news was known about but not spoken about due to the grief of House Silva.

"But", Harrow continued, "you will hold your tongue until we have concluded the boys interrogation". Nozel bowed his head and stepped back, towards the place where Fuegoleon was standing, below the level of the throne but still above the other captains. "If you have all quite finished", King Svengauld announced tersely, "then I will pronounce this Royal Commission into this boys unexplained Xadian expedition into session".


	16. Chapter 16: The Royal Commission

Chapter 16: The Royal Commission

Rill Boismortier; the eighteen year old captain of the Aqua Deer, stood awkwardly in between the angry beings of Yami and William. The young captain knew that these two in particular knew what it was like to be looked down upon by the upper circles of power, and so to aide with one another in this case; over a boy being accused as a traitor to humanity, or an incompetent human by the king the vice royals, was a serious moment. A mockery of justice. A display of their prejudgements towards anyone who wasn't born like them.

Rill could see why Dorothy stormed out of the room followed by Charlotte, and he suddenly regretted not following them outside. They like him were middle ranking nobles, accepted by the citizenry as more like them and tolerated by high nobility as having halfway decent standards.

Opposite him, Yami and William stood opposite captains Geldre and Jack, whom usually indifferent to royal prerogatives and summons, were intently staring at the young sixteen year old boy kneeling before them. Geldre and Jack were always the most gung-ho when it came to defending the border against with Xadia. Both the Praying Mantises and the Purple Orcas squads were associated with the Rogues; and brought back many magical creatures for dark magic experiments for furthering humanities magical hopes and aspirations. Moreover, the current monarchs of the five human kingdoms saw it as the work of the squads to better humanities chances of defeating any elven threat. By any means necessary.

And yet Rill, knew that together, if they put aside their personal grudges and ambitions for their squads; Jack, Yami, Geldre and William, with the support of Dorothy and Charlotte could defend this boy. Seeing as they all did want a better direction for their Pentarchy.

Being the son of a noblewoman from the societal middle ground of Katolis, meant that Rill was accepted by the high nobility for having a decent enough education and good social skills, and also by the commoners for possessing empathy and compassion for his fellow human citizens and not being rude, arrogant and conceited like the upper nobles.

Still, he found it difficult to truly find his place as he felt like he; and other middle and lower nobles, were the middle ground to whom the ordinary citizens went to in order to get royalty to listen to and approve improved living standards for them. The royal family, their cousins and even the military hierarchy didn't like to be in the same room with someone who lived in the countryside. Regardless if the idea was beneficial to any aspect of Katolis's betterment, and it this same thinking, class, that was rampant in the other kingdoms as well.

As a result of all the many people that came to him asking him to proposition the interior capital for improvements for the civilians of Katolis, Rill suffered from bouts of depression; which caused his mother endless worry. And, aside from his mother's love, the one thing that kept him going strong was his picture magic. Having the ability, and the opportunity, to create beautiful art from his minds eye to distract himself, other citizens from their hard lives, created by the apathy and disdain of the central government towards them, was hugely important to him.

As Rill stood in between Yami and William, he noticed the eyes of Crown Prince Harrow looking at the shackled boy before them all, there was something akin to a prolonged sadness at the situation in both sets of eyes. And it sparked hope in Rill that for the first time in Katolis's history, there was an heir to the throne who was actually in disagreement with the king, and whom was on the people's side. Casually looking towards Yami, Rill noticed that the captain of the Black Bulls had come to that realisation too, and was half smirking half grinning. "Rill", he heard William Vangeance whisper beside him, "keep your focus on the king, don't give him any reason to think that we're taking sides. As captains we serve and protect the Pentarchy, and the royals count as well". Remembering the situation before him, the young captain stood straight and tall and kept up his mask of neutrality.

"What say you? Boy!" King Svengauld yelled, slamming the tip of his cane down on the marble floor. "Who are you really? Why were you in Xadia, and how did you survive? Answer me!" General Aurelius stepped forwards and grabbed the young boy by his hair and pulled him upwards making him gasp in pain, "you will answer his majesty", he muttered before abruptly dropping the boy back on to the ground. Pushing himself back to his knees, the boy spat blood from his mouth onto the ground before speaking. "My name is Zeren, I was travelling with my parents from Del Bar to Evenere when our ship was caught in a storm and sunk. When I awoke I was alone and inside a cell guarded by Moonshadow and Skywing elves".

Zeren stopped speaking as he told his practiced and well versed story that Juri and Eris had helped him come up with, even now thinking about them and how far away he was from his home and family; hurt. "Unchain him", a voice spoke, soft and empathetic not the hard gravelly sound that he'd heard before. Looking up, he saw a tanned skinned young man whose hair was done in long braids and wearing a small circlet of gold atop his head; and in his hands was a cup of water and a small loaf of bread.

Hope flashed across Zeren's eyes as he looked into the kind eyes of this young man, as he then felt his hands becoming free from the metal shackles on his wrists, allowing him to ease some of the discomfort he had been under. "Do not make any sudden moves boy!" He heard the general mutter behind him, as took the shackles away.

Kneeling down in front of the teenage boy; the young man, Crown Prince Harrow, handed over to him the cup of water and loaf of bread with a smile of genuine kindness and humility that Zeren hadn't seen so far in anyone present in this room. The immediate looks, from the king and the two others on either side of him, had been contempt and mistrust.

"Zeren", the Youngish man asked, as the boy began eating the bread sparingly, whilst conserving the water. "Please forgive my father for his abrupt words, he means no ill towards you. We are just curious as to why elves, who usually kill us humans without so much as a second look, would return you alive and unharmed". Placing a hand on the boy's shoulder, Harrow knelt down and gently patted in a comforting manner. "You're clearly upset about loosing your parents at sea, and for that I am humbly and profoundly sorry for your loss. But could you explain what happened when you were found by the elves".

Taking a deep breath, Zeren began to further explain his half truth and half lie story. "When I awoke, I was told that I had been taken to Lux Aurea where I would be held until the sunfire elf queen decided wether I would die or returned home. I think because they saw me as a child, they were easier going", he explained between drinks of water. Out of the corner of his eyes, Zeren could see three of the captains present had looks on their faces that indicted sympathy for him. Also, not noticed by them or the king was that these three captains were showing that they agreed with the Crown Prince against the kings hawkishness. "You're saying being a child saved you", a silver haired man with a braid in front of his face stated, walking down from the dais. "Please, don't try to kid us. If the elves let you live then clearly they wanted something out of you..."

"Nozel! That's enough", Harrow interjected loudly. "I told you to keep quiet. You, and Fuegoleon, may be my cousins but you are not crown prince and the mere fact that father allows you to stand beside us on the dais is supposed to remind you of that fact. It is courtesy not a right. You may leave the throne room now". A stunned silence engulfed the room, as every eye went straight to the angry face of the Crown Prince and the startled Nozel Silva. Bowing his head, and announcing; "forgive me cousin", Nozel walked down the steps of the dais past his fellow, remaining, captains and out of the throne room. From beside the throne, Fuegoleon Vermillion took it upon himself to depart the dais and take up a position next to Yami and Rill; to their respect.

"Thank you Fuegoloen", Harrow spoke, "I'll apologise to Nozel when I see him but for now I want you all to know I take no pleasure in admonishing any of you. Not even my own family". Walking back to the throne, and bowing his own head to his father, Harrow uttered the phrase "Semper Fedillis", before the king placed a hand on his sons shoulder. "Rise my son", Svengauld responded, his eyes drifting over to the still kneeling boy. "The boy is an orphan then... Captain Vangeance" he called out, making the aforementioned man step forwards and kneel before the king. "Take the boy and train him within the Golden Dawn squad. And when you deem him ready, bring him back to the castle, and he will become Harrow's charge".


	17. Chapter 17: Allied, Protected, Observed

Chapter 17: Allied, Protected and Observed

William Vangeance was stunned by the kings words. To suddenly about face, from angry to reserved; showed the promise, wide counsel and influence of the Crown Prince. And to William, knowing that the heir to the throne had these qualities, was liberating. Prince Harrow, the reformist prince had relit the hope in Vangeance's heart for a fairer just Pentarchy. William despised the upper class nobility who were rigid on their beliefs that they were better than the _filthy commoners_, toiling in the mud, due to their being born into status. Seeing Prince Harrow nod his head, William walked forwards and helped the kneeling boy to his feet before bowing to the king and prince, leading him and the boy out of the chamber.

"You are really lucky the prince spoke up for you", William spoke once they had exited the royal castle and were making their way; along with other knights of the Golden Dawn, towards their squad headquarters. "Prince Harrow..." William just about heard the boy, Zeren, utter a response. "He's not what I expected the Heir to Katolis to be like". Without turning around, due to him currently riding a horse, the captain frowned and asked, "you speak as if you had prior knowledge about him before coming here. Should I be concerned?"

William could tell, that the boy hadn't meant for his earlier words to be heard, or even if he had meant them, but judging by the sound of Zeren's horse whinnying alerted him to the fact the boy had just flinched.

"I wish no ill intent upon either the king or the crown prince", Zeren replied, "it's just that growing up in the border countryside of Katolis and Neolandia, I heard stories about..." he gulped, fighting back tears. "... About the purge of the Amari family, at the orders of the Pentarchy's royal families". Suddenly, the procession of horses and knight recruits, was abruptly halted by William raising his right arm, and then turning his horse around to face the sixteen year old boy. "What exactly do you know about the _purge_?"

Anxiety and fear, rose in the back of Williams mind, if any of the kings spies within the _Rogues_ overheard this, then Zeren would almost certainly be hauled right back to the castle and executed for sedition, and noting that the elderly king Svengauld still harboured an intense hatred and jealousy towards that family, the captain knew that not even the prince would be able to intervene.

"I only know what I overheard from soldiers and travellers", Zeren lied, keeping his expression a careful mix of confusion and concern. "That the Pentarchy's five Royal families tricked Lord Sion into visiting Katolis with an offer to marry his eldest daughter with the heir to katolis", Zeren responded, bitting the inside of his cheek as he remembered the faces of his human parents and siblings. "...And then they were all slaughtered at a banquet as the royals watched on laughing".

"You seem to know a lot more about that day than most people", William frowned, before dismounting his steed, and reunify to face his second in command. "Klaus", he called to a tall white haired bespectacled man dressed in the golden dawn's blue and gold robes, "lead the recruits back to headquarters. I need to talk with Zeren". Klaus Lunettes, senior knight of the Golden Dawn, bowed his head and then moved his own horse ahead of the other new recruits and began leading them off again.

Once the recruits and ranking knights had left them alone, Captain Vangeance tied his horses reins to a branch of a nearby tree and then moved to do the same with Zeren's steed as well. Climbing down from the horse, Zeren felt a deep rooted anxiety build up in his heart but before he could begin shaking, he witnessed his captain reach up and remove the mask that covered his own face. Upon seeing, what Zeren assumed were scars, across Williams' face, the boy suddenly felt something like a stab of sympathy for the captain, along with a realisation.

"Your one of them aren't you", Zeren half whispered-half growled, "a royal! Or be it, a royal that was mistreated! No one else in the human Pentarchy would do that..."

"And you're the lost Amari son", Vangaence replied, looking around him to make sure that there were no eavesdroppers. "I'm not actually royalty, I'm the illegitimate son of a high Noble", in William replied, "I was neglected and abandoned simply because of my appearance..." gesturing to his facial scaring, "my birthmarks made it very hard for anyone to look at me, and so I was cast out. The only two people in the kingdom who saw me as a person, and gave me the opportunity to make something of my life, were Crown Prince Harrow and High Mage Julius Novachrono. Without their acknowledgment, faith and trust I would almost certainly be dead".

Wide shocked eyes stared back at William, once he had finalised his backstory. Zeren looked suitable abashed for showing his disdain for the nobility, and momentarily verbally lashing out at his captain. "I'm sorry..." he began but was interjected by Captain Vangeance, "it's perfectly fine. We both know what it's like to be on the receiving end of noble and royal cruelty", William responded.

"Now let's get back to headquarters", just as he was about to walk off William turned back to face Zeren, "you're secret is safe with me, Zeren. I won't report anything back to the royals". Remounting their horses, both Captain and the newly recruited knight tracked off in the direction of the Golden Dawn headquarters, unaware that their conversation had been overheard by a creature wearing a skull-mask over their beaked face and a cloak around its body.

As the two humans left, SkekMal wrung his taloned hands together with glee, knowing that he had found the boy that according to the ScrollKeeper; was destined to become a threat to the Skeksis, the Hunter pulled an arrow from his jacket inside pocket. Biting down on the arrow stem, the Hunter imparted a portion of his mind into the arrow as a way to prove to the Emperor that the boy was found and under surveillance. Finally, raising his right arm into the air, the Skeksis took a deep breath and threw the arrow in the general direction of the Crystal Castle. "...ah, the joy of the hunt", he grinned from behind the mask, as he watched the arrow fly silently and discreetly away carrying its message.

Looking back in the direction of the two vanishing specks on the horizon, that belonged to the humans; SkekMal jumped down from the tree and wrapped himself in his cloak so that only his masked face, talons and tail were visible, and began stalking after them maintaining a fair but comparable distance. And as much as SkekMal wanted a battle between himself and these humans, he knew that his mission was one of stealth and intelligence gathering; all in accordance with the Emperor's long game.


	18. Chapter 18: The High Mage

Chapter 18: The High Mage

High Mage, Julius Novachrono was born into a middle ranked noble family from the kingdom of Neolandia. From a young age he displayed a tremendous admiration and curiosity towards practical and theoretical magic, as well as a desire to learn about all the different types that existed in the world.

However, as many of those types were used by the elves of Xadia, and contact between humans and elves was forbidden under pain of immolation by dragon fire, the young Julius was content to simply read about and observe as much interesting magic as he could. All the time wishing for the time when he would be old enough to actually go out into the field to learn for himself.

And at the age of seventeen, after passing the Knight entrance exams he joined the Aqua Deer, or as it was then called the Grey Deer, knights squad. Rising through the ranks of his squad to become the Captain in eight years, Julius caught the attention of Katolis's Crown Prince, who shared Julius's desire to reform the Pentarchy into a fairer and just confederation of kingdoms that could better serve and protect its constituent citizens.

It was predominantly down to Prince Harrow's persuasive arguments, that allowed Julius to be nominated and accepted as the Pentarchy's High Mage following the death of the predecessor. And given that each kingdom wanted one of its mage citizenry to hold the top mage spot, getting them all to agree to the ideas of one nations Crown Prince, as a stretch of the imagination. The animosity of the other kings and their respective heirs to towards Harrow had originally been nil, but as when Neolandia, Julius's birth nation, was informed that the High Mage would be setting up permanently in Katolis the other king and their heirs were royally pissed off.

And that was before they even knew that he was a middle ranked noble. "_Jumped up little shit!_" Was one such sentiment that high nobles whispered about him. But to the ordinary citizens, of all the five kingdoms, Julius Novachrono was beloved.

His magic attribute, time, was a formidable weapon as well as being a huge boon for humanities increased security and prosperity. Julius became High Mage at the age of twenty four, and was beloved by the people of the ordinary citizens of the Pentarchy's five kingdoms.

A reformer and an idealist at heart, Julius was determined to improve the living standards and welfare of the people, as well as the diplomatic status between east and west; humans and elves. And with the help of his best friend, Katolis's Crown Prince Harrow, he had made great progress in getting kings and queens to agree on improving their reigns.

However, his greatest failure was the Amari Purge, an event that he had been unable to prevent. Despite going to Katolis and using his magic to go against the kings and queens, to try and save the last Primal Magic human family. Unfortunately, they had predicted him and had guards present to subdue him whilst the slaughter occurred, afterwards Julius had fallen into despair and angrily lashed out at all those who sought him out. 'The boy...' he continually mused about the missing, presumed drowned youngest Amari child.

However, it was the final dying words of Lord Sion Amari that still made him well up with tears... "_You are the moon, unaware of the dawn... may your purpose be fulfilled. And cast two shadows down upon the ground of tomorrow, and you will know the brilliance of dawn's penance"_.

Countless elven High Lords ordered his assassination, as a means of weakening the human realm but every attempt was met with failure. The elven assailants were captured and given over to the Mage Association; which would later, after the Amari purge, would be commanded by the Rogues, for enhanced interrogation followed by magic draining. The bodies were returned to Xadia, as the Association and then the Rogues wanted to send a message back to the Elf Lords; to not take humanity lightly.

Suddenly being elbowed in the side, High Mage, Julius Novachrono was brought out of his daydreaming about magic by his principle advisor, Marx. Turning back to the present throne room situation, he noticed a slight eye roll from Prince Harrow, as the Ambassador readdressed the King again. "Your grace, I beg you to reconsider", the envoy from the Kingdom of Duren begged the Katolis ruler, His Majesty; King Svengauld, for Katolis troops to help put down a rebellion against the anointed and rightful heir to Duren's throne.

Eyeing the Duren ambassador who was now being flanked by his own guards, all of whom seemed ready to protect their charge, the High Mage hurriedly interceded. Clicking his fingers, Julius created an small minor ice wall between the ambassadorial guards and the approaching royal castle knights. "Please let us refrain from any unnecessary ill intended actions", briefly turning his head to face his chief advisor, Marx, and smiled.

Julius then walked down the steps of the dais towards the ambassador, "Lord Flevence, Katolis understands the mood that is simmering in Duren, during the aftermath of the late King and Queens death. And as much as we support the rightful line of succession but we cannot send troops to bolster Princess Annika's reign".

The High Mage spoke with a soft tone but with strong determination behind his words, "King Svengauld supports Princess Annika and her Princess-Consort, Neha, but we need our troops to be here..." He was interrupted by Ambassador Flevence who shook angrily, rounding on the Pentarchy's mightiest mage. "And what pray tell, is more important than supporting the rule of Duren's rightful Queen against her traitorous uncle?"

Julius didn't need to turn around to know that King Svengauld was sighing, and that Marx Ahmad just slapped a hand over his face. 'Great... that was supposed to be written in letters to each of the kingdoms royal families...' he internally scolded himself. "Tell him Julius", King Svengauld muttered, "the letters were already sent out. It's not my fault that the others rulers didn't inform their court about this new situation". Immediately, the look of anger vanished from the Ambassador's face, and was replaced by perplexed exasperation.

"A couple of days ago," Julius began, "Katolis knights at the Breach were confronted by a group of Sunfire elves, specifically the a small number of Lux Aurean Golden Knights. As per instruction, as well as defaulted self defence, our forces were prepared to fight but instead of a battle they were faced by the elves handing over to them a captured prisoner. A human boy".

The Ambassador was silent, contemplating the words he'd just heard, as his guards lowered their weapons and withdraw from their defensive ranks. "The elves took a human prisoner... and returned him alive? This has to be a Xadian plot! They hates us and they want to destroy humanity! They turned a human against us and sent him home as an agent of theirs..."

Ambassador Flevence's outburst illicidid a nod from King Svengauld, who privately believed the same thought, and that the boy should die. Yet, he ultimately decided, after yielding to his sons advice, to 'test' the boy's loyalty to humanity with membership of one of the Knight Squads; and afterwards the boy would become part of the Crown Princes retinue as a further test of loyalty. Directly overseen by the royal family, and High Mage. "Ambassador", Marx; advisor to the High Mage, spoke up. "From first observation of the boy, he looked undernourished and scared. That being said, the Court has already initiated a plan to determine his true loyalty..."

Turning away from the assembled lords, Julius bowed his head to the king and bid his leave. '_The boy..._' he thought, '_there are too many questions about the coincidental appearance in Xadia and the disappearance of the Amari boy...'_ Leaving the throne room, with Marx in tow, Julius Novachrono made a mental note to visit the headquarters of the Golden Dawn under the ruse to see William.

He and William were old friends, and not even King Svengauld would begrudge their meeting. The High Mage and the captain of the strongest knight squad meeting to discuss matters of humanities security and survival. _'I need to know if the Amari bloodline survived...'_


	19. Chapter 19: The Six Generals

Chapter 19: The Six Generals

For much of the high nobility across the five kingdoms, preservation of wealth and power was what dictated their obligations and actions. Holding onto what they had became critically important, even at the expense of the people they swore to protect: be them family or citizenry. The lure and corruption of money made many nobles do terrible things in the pursuit of a familial legacy, just so they could keep the standards of luxury that they had come to take for granted.

Arranged marriages were often the easiest way for nobles to keep themselves in purse and power, whilst ingratiating themselves further amongst social circles. Daughters were nothing more than bargaining chips, sold off to prospective husbands in exchange for: monetary compensation, royal affectations, court intrigue or a boost in social standing. As well as being broodmares for unflattering corrupt men.

The same was true for any other sons born after their eldest brother. First born sons carried on the family name and became the new era high nobility, keeping their accumulated wealth close and bloodlines continuously affluent. Younger brothers were shunned, and in some families abused. Military service was seen as a way for patents to offload any spare sons and prevent them from becoming rivals to their older brother.

If a first born son died prematurely then the families wealth and power would pass into the next oldest son, unless that son was hated and abused by his parents. In which case the next boy would take on the role, or if there wasn't another boy available, the parents would give over control of the family to one of their relatives; an uncle or male cousin. Bypassing daughters or son-in-laws. As nothing nauseated the nobility more than the idea of their money being given over to another family, even if they had married into them.

Whereas for the few lesser nobles; there were some, who somehow, down to either ingenuity or luck, managed to attain or create for themselves some level of wealth and influence. Holding onto them was not something they concerned themselves with, mostly because they remembered what I'd was like to live a working life, struggling to feed families of oneself, not to mention the sacrifices made in order to reach a place of moderate security.

These lesser nobles were treated with respect and admiration by the ordinary people living off the land, as they modernise villages into towns that could begin to attract merchants to them and have new routes through to the other cities of Katolis, and further afield.

To **Tenjiki Tsukasa** however, the concept of monetary preservation was irrelevant and as much as he enjoyed his accumulation of power, as was evident by his military rank of General; which proved the former and his exalted upbringing disproved the latter. He truly believed that the only thing that was of any worth in the world was strength, not the power and influence that came with it but the feeling of battle against equally strong opponents. And the stronger the better, elves and dragons he would relish the prospect of fighting them, all for the exhilaration of defying death. All Tsukasa desired in life was fighting and killing as many strong opponents as possible. In either the defence of katolis, and the Pentarchy as a whole, or in discreet raids into Xadia.

Tsukasa was born into one of the highest ranked noble families of Katolis, directly below the relatives of the current royal family, House Vermilion and House Silva.

**House Belmarsh** was a military family that could trace its origins back to the original war for the crown. The founder of the House Belmarsh, Sir Léon Belmarsh, had been granted land by a the first king as thanks for his tactical and strategical plans and for being a steadfast ally, during the Founding War, as it later became known as. The war pitted seven noble families against one another for the right to rule Katolis as its Royal Family, and at present day all but one of those seven families were extinct.

Aside from the two other royal Houses and House Belmarsh, there was another high noble family had assisted in the unification of Katolis and the creation of monarchy; the Amari Family. Which had been a boon to the winning side, as having the only humans to wield primal magic as allies was both great strategy and politics.

After victory had been acquired and the new throne claimed, the Amari's were named as the kingdoms' official Mages whilst House Belmarsh became was named as the dynastic hereditary Head of the Army, which was honoured by successive Katolis Kings. To the contrition and disdain of House Silva, House Vermillion was never overly concerned with whom ran the military, and once the nine knight squads were formed House Vermillion recognised the importance of border security and the training of armies that were not too tightly regulated or controlled by the King.

Tenjiki Tsukasa changed his name when he was eight years old, and subsequently refused to adhere to orders given by his parents if they called him by his Belmarsh name. By the time he was eighteen he had all but abandoned his old life and moved out and away from the ancestral mansion deep within the Yarlsborg forrest, and forced his induction into the Breach garrison by challenging its commandant to a duel. moreover, just for the sheer hell of it, he entered Xadia and brought back the decapitated head of an elven High Lord as well as Magma Titan for his training ritual, or what others called his '_sadistic magical enhancements'_.

No one in his new life ever asked him what his real name was, or why he chose to leave behind a life of high nobility. If anyone even tried to broach the subject with him he would glare venomously until that person backed away. At the Breach he was able to train further in sword and stealth skills, hardening his resolve to become a scout/warrior conducting counter raises into Xadia along side knights from any of the nine squads. Who he liked seeing unsettled, as his brutality and sheer lust for battle always made others unnerved.

And yet, charging headlong into a fight and the results that he attained, was what eventually brought him to he attention of a much younger King Svengauld who would name him to the position of Captain of the Guard, the leader of the kings elite bodygaurds, when he was the age of twenty four. Brutality became Tsukasa's trademark. So much so that humans and elves began to fear him, wonder if the captain was even sane. To which, if anyone asked, Tsukasa would simply grin. _Devilishly_.

Eventually, the nine squad captains began to question, not just Tsukasa's sanity but the morality of his tactics during raids and during interrogations of dissents and captured elves. But since he was deeply respected and trusted by the King, there was nothing that any of the captains could do to stop or limit the insatiable spirit that dwelled within Captain Tsukasa.

At the age of thirty two, Tsukasa was named by King Svengauld as one of the Katolis's top military leaders guarding one of the six major fortresses along the Human-Xadia border. Of which the Breach was one. Alongside: Sir **Richard Aurelius**, **Sir Devin Mallory, Sir Oliver Trenton, Sir Anton Dreyfus and Dame Misano Esdeath**, **Tenjiki Tsukasa** became one of the Six Generals.

The only military personnel in the Pentarchy who outranked the nine squad captains, and whom led forces that were semi-independent of the five kingdoms individual militaries but were ultimately loyal to humanity, and to King Svengauld.


	20. Chapter 20: Kindred Spirits

Chapter 20: Kindred Spirits  
- One Year Later

The day of the knight entrance exams came by sooner than Sarai and Amaya had been expecting, but their desire to join the ranks of the knight squads never faltered. The greater level of focus, stamina and agility they had undergone with their hard training regimes had assisted both girls in their sword strikes and the range of their attacks. Their mother, Dalia, continued to support her two daughters in their swordsmanship and she was soo proud of their progression of strength and resolve. After all, the two girls were both well versed in sword and hand to hand attacks.

Sarai and Amaya had been honing their skills since they had been thirteen and twelve, respectively. The skills taught to them were now down to such a point that they 'owned' each of the other sword students in their class.

'Follow your dreams, and don't let anyone stand in your way', those had been the words of their mother as they had departed from their small homestead, towards the interior of the Capitol, for the tiltyard of the Katolis branch of the Pentarchy's Knight Squads headquarters.

The capital city was nothing the two girls had ever seen before, not that they had anything to compare it to. The city itself was built on the slope of a grassy plateau with the royal castle at the top of the cliff; overlooking the forest and river below. The upper and mid level nobility, whom had capital residence, were located halfway up the plateau whilst merchants and the ordinary citizenry were

below on the flatlands separated by tall high walls. To any commoners that chose to dwell within the city, they were granted homesteads within the merchant quarters. And as the power of Katolis grew, due to its geographical position and ease of carrying out raids into Xadia; bringing back gainful supplies and knowledge, Katolis was regarded as the wealthiest of the Five Kingdoms.

As such, the capital had expanded several time in its centuries of existence and currently it stood at over one million citizens, the majority of them being commoners, who built the massive market square and the huge number of craftsmen. Creating two distinctive levels within the common sector of the capital: the Citizenry and the Draughtsmen.

Separating the Royal and Noble precincts were walls and a small garrison defending them. Built into the natural rock and surrounded by high thick stout walls, the royal castle was seen to be impregnable. The garrison guarding the castle were known as the Crown Guard and were headed by one of the Six Generals, the other five generals were stationed at various military outposts all the way along the border of the Human west and the Elven east. Ports, mountain passes, even merchant routes... threats didn't just come from Xadia... the Six Generals guarded, King Svengauld and his ancestors had known, that threats came from the other human kingdoms. And would do whatever they could to vie for an advantage over each other. Which usually came in the form of the Pentarchy High Mage.

Electing a High Mage was a hugely important role for the Pentarchy to do, and as much as the kingdoms tried to be bipartisan when selecting a new High Mage, the result would almost always be seen as partisan to someone. Each of the five kingdoms had their own mages, and they would put forth candidates for the role of Pentarchy High Mage in hopes of having their royalty being seen as the most important. The current High Mage, Julius Novachrono, may have been born in Neolandia but his friendship with Katolis's Crown Prince made his home nations royal family angry and jealous. Julius was beloved by the ordinary citizens of the Pentarchy, was an ardent reformer and an idealist when it came to wanting a cessation of violence between humanity and elves.

Upon immediately entering the inside the capital, Sarai and Amaya were blindsided by the size of the gatehouse and drawbridge, and then frustrated by the long queues of people trying to get past as well. Most of whom were also heading to the Knights Entrance Exam. The interior garrison which manned the checkpoint and carried out mandatory searches of all incoming, outgoing merchants and travellers but to the two girls the guards orders to stop and search everyone entering or leaving, was of no surprise. Especially, when they heard people whispering that they had heard rumours of a boy that had survived Xadia and was now under observation and loyalty tests by Captain William Vangeance.

When Sarai had heard that she had hung her head in shame, for she realised that the boy everyone was suspicious of was the same boy that she had seen being taken to the castle one year ago. Gritting her teeth, the older sister moved on in the queue pleading that her sister would not be able to pick up on her sudden sullenness. So once they were approved to move onward, they decided to head straight for the Katolis branch Knights Headquarters, 'come on', Sarai signed, 'we don't want to miss registration'. Nodding her head, and showing off a competitive grin, Amaya signed back 'I will beat you sis! Captain Charlotte Roselei will pick me not you'.

Further inside was, the subdivided, merchant district and the civilian residences, either side of a gigantically wide market square with a huge white barked and red leafed tree in the centre, surrounding it in all directions were hundreds of stalls and shop fronts spread out all around. 'It must be market day...' Amaya signed, before bolting off towards a stall selling meat kebabs. Leaving her sister scowling. As she looked around her, Sarai noticed that many of the shops had above rooms for lodgers or the shop keeper and their families, whilst others were quite obviously given over to draughtsmen who needed extra space for working or storing their wares.

She was about to once more hail her sister and head off towards the Knights Entrance exam, when she saw a familiar dark haired boy from across the market square. Dressed in a brown tunic, black breeches and a dark navy blue cloak with a gold clasp holding it over his shoulders, Sarai couldn't not miss the boy that she had seen last year. Only this time, instead of being paraded away by soldiers, the boy had emblazoned on his cloak the sigh of the Golden Dawn Knights. Before she could register what was happening, the boy suddenly became aware of her staring at him, and changed his route accordingly. Towards her. Recognition in his eyes but no sign of resentment or malice, just kindness and genuine curiosity.

"I remember you..." the boy stuttered, once he was close enough to her to be heard. "You were in the street last year when I was being taken away by soldiers..."

Sarai immediately flushed with shame at remembering her not standing up for the boy as he was marched past her towards the castle. Only when he was standing right in front of her, did she notice a faint blush on his face. "I never got to tell you then... how pretty you are".

Sarai dug her nails into her arm, as a means to steady and prevent herself from being lost in the incredible beautiful heterochromia eyes staring at her. One violet the other green. In addition to his rare eye colour, his brown hair with a braid hanging down the left side of his face, only made her self injury more acute. The boy was cute, and she didn't know how to handle these sorts of situations she never had boys telling her that she was pretty, mostly down to her prowess as a swords woman. Strong women were not sort after, and to be strong woman in a heavily dominated male ruled Pentarchy, was often a hard unforgiving life. But there was something in this boy's eyes that shone with understanding and hope, that drew her in even as she desperately tried to stand back.

"I-I-I don't know how to respond to that..." she stuttered, finally looking up at the boy before her, who was blushing and trying to hide his eyes behind his fringe of brown hair. "Such awkwardness", she murmured. "Your not the typical boy that I thought would try and flirt with me", she grinned, slowly raising her hand toward the boy, initiating proper introductions. "I'm Sarai, and the girl over there currently making that vendors life hell, is my sister Amaya. We're going to the knight squad entrance exams".

Upon hearing that, the boy grinned as he pointed to his cloak bearing the emblem of the Golden Dawn knights squad on it. "My name is Zeren, and I am a steward to Captain William Vangeance". Something flashed across Sarah's mind as she heard the boy's name, 'that not a Katolis name... he's from Duren', she was about to ask further question when she caught sight of a set of black metal twin daggers at his waist and a silver moon opal pendant around his neck.

"I'm sorry I didn't catch that", she apologised, blushing, as she realised she hadn't heard what Zeren had asked. With a soft smile, and a sigh, the boy spoke again. "I said I hope we can be friends, because I get the feeling that we have more things in common than we initially think". Sarai grabbed Amaya and stomped off after the boy, in the direction of the Knights headquarters. All the while shielding her blushing face with her scarf, and trying to desist her traitors thoughts.


	21. Chapter 21: A Turned over Silva Leaf

Chapter 21: A Turned over Silva leaf 

'_Hey... sis'_, Amaya nudged her sister, grinningly. '_If you're not interested in this boy, do you mind if I take him?_'

Sarai was momentarily taken aback by her sisters question before frowning at the smirk and wriggling eyebrows on Anaya's face. '_Shut up!_' She responded, deliberately ignoring the way Zeren's beautiful eyes flickered and lingered on her, for mere seconds before he averted his gaze.

Choosing instead to look up a the huge colosseum, where the knight entrance exams were being held, Sarai brought her goal to the forefront of her mind: 'become a knight of the Pentarchy'. As uncertain about these new feelings as she was, she also knew that she and Zeren had a similar aura to each other. It felt like they shared a similar Innate wish to protect those that they held dear, to create a better humanity. She was curious about that, and was intrigued by the slight tinges of darkness in the corners of his eyes. Zeren certainly wasn't evil, but Sarai could sense deep resentment and anger residing within the boy.

"This is it", the boy interrupted her train of thought. "The Colosseum. Inside here are the nine Knight captains whom will test your skills with magic or swordsmanship". With a soft gentle smile on her face, Sarai walked towards Zeren and placed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you, and I'm-I'm sorry for not helping you... a year ago, I mean. And yeah... friends, I hope to see more of you when we become knights". Taking her sitters arm, she marched away and then disappeared through the entrance archway into the Colosseum, she saw her sister sign '_thank you_' back towards Zeren but what she didn't see was the '_Sarai loves you_' bit at the end.

Turning around, with heat rising in his face, remembering the sisterly teasing that Amaya had signed earlier, Zeren, barely even recognised the tall bespectacled, white haired man in blue and gold robes striding towards him. An annoyed expression across his face, as he pushed past several other candidates.

"Master Zeren", Klaus Lunnettes spoke, flicking a few strands of hair out from his line of vision before rounding on the young steward. "As the personal aide and steward to Captain Vangeance, you are meant to stand beside him during the examination. You're tardiness shows your commoner status and your unreadiness for such a task..."

Klaus would have continued his admonishing of the boy, but was interrupted by seeing the hurrying lad trip and fall into a bunch of arriving candidates toppling them all to the ground. Dressed in emaculate clothes of red and blue belying their noble heritage, the candidates began raging at the '_filthy commoner_' for improper respect shown to those far above him in life.

"Get moving runt!"

"Scum. The lot of them!"

"Yeah, we are nobility! We shouldn't have to bare witness to your frivolities".

Sensing that Zeren was getting royally pissed off, and wanting to avoid any such actions that would shame the Golden Dawn and Captain Vangeance. Klaus bolted forwards and grabbed Zeren by the scruff of his neck, more precisely; the collar of his tunic, and dragged him away before the boy could snark or growl out a retort. "May I remind you, Zeren, that you are representing the Golden Dawn! So behave yourself". The boy huffed but knew that Klaus was right, so he begrudgingly followed the man.

Walking up several flights of stairs and then along galleries to get to the balcony, where the nine captains were overseeing the the exams, was a long way. Especially as he was being dragged and berated by Klaus, which Zeren continuously scowled at, but upon arriving at the balcony the bespectacled man sighed and placed a hand on the boys shoulder. "I may be hard on you Zeren... but I see a darkness in your eyes that I haven't seen in anyone for quite some time", Klaus spoke. "Captain William sees it too, and we both want to help you to rid yourself of it. You have a new life in the Golden Dawn, embrace it. And let the bonds of camaraderie you from move you past whatever is holding you back".

Standing facing the man responsible for his knight training, whenever Captain Vangeance wasn't available. Zeren felt his anger towards the Pentarchy monarchs, for their crimes against his family, clash with his own hope for peace and understanding between elves and humans. It had been a struggle for him to bury his rage from immediate view when he was brought before King Svengauld, one of the two men that had been behind his families murder... He could have used his primal magic there and a then to slaughter the '_old coot_'.

Yet, had it not been for the intervention of the caring and kind Crown Prince, Zeren knew that his anger would have consumed him and he would not have have been able to restrain himself against the descriptions, the king and the silver haired Captain, had said about him, his human family and elves in general.

However, the words from Klaus stilled his hatred and vengeful mood: bitterness and disdain were replaced by resolve to further the goals of the Golden Dawn. As well as, a genuine curiosity towards the knight entrance exams and whom the captains would select. '_Sarai..._' His mind, traitorously, went to the girl he had re-met and befriended. 'Her dark brown hair, hazel eyes and the adorable mole beneath her left eye...' Shaking his head, Zeren focused on the task at hand, aiding Captain Vangeance select worthwhile knights from the examination.

Walking towards the nine seats, upon one of which sat William Vangeance, Zeren pointedly ignored the way that another younger silver haired man standing next to Captain Nozel Silva; glared at him. "Ah Zeren", William spoke from behind his mask, "there you are. I trust you found the colosseum easily?" With a sly smile on his face, Zeren could tell that William was well aware of slower pace that he had taken to get here. "Yes, Sir William", the young steward replied, "the way was clear... though I'm sorry for my late arrival".

"Your young steward is unrefined, unruly and unworthy of his position amongst the Golden Dawn", the younger silver haired man mocked. "He doesn't even possess a grimoire, a boy without magic within the knight squad... he must be uniquely deformed to not even use dark magic or any magics imbued into grimoires by the ex-Amari followers".

Zeren bristled with simmering anger but was stopped from lashing out, and giving himself away as the lost Amari son, by William standing up and placing a hand on the boy's shoulder. Coincidentally, at the same time, Nozel Silva turned his head from observing the mingling knight participants below, and spoke. "Solid... you will desist from taunting the boy. He is a steward in training to William Vangenace, and will one day become the page to Crown Prince Harrow... remember that brother. Zeren may very well outrank us someday".

Zeren couldn't help but frown at the captain of the Silver Eagles sudden change of tone towards him since the royal commission. And apparently, this unexpected about-turn was noticed by the other captains as well. Particularly, from the captains of the Coral Peacocks, Blue Rose Knights and Black Bulls.

However, before anyone could question him, Nozel stood up and loudly addressed the whole assembly of knight applicants.

"_Welcome, participants of this years Knight entrance exams. I Nozel Silva of House Silva, Captain of the Silver Eagles, shall be overseeing this test. There will be two parts to this exam: practise in magic and practice in swordplay. By the end of the day, you will have either been selected into one of the Nine Squads or not. If more than one captain raises a hand for you, then that candidate shall choose which squad to join. I bid you all good luck, and now let us begin with the knights entrance examination_".


	22. Chapter 22: The Entrance Exams

Chapter 22: The Entrance Exams  
\- Choices

Standing in the vast central atrium of the colosseum and looking up at the balcony where the captains, and others, stood was exhilarating. For Amaya, the feeling of wanting to prove herself strong and worthy of knighthood was one of pure equality and justice, brought about by her fathers dismissal of her warrior behaviour and dreams. On the other hand, Sarai simply stood arms straight at her sides clenching a spear in both hands, and a sword strapped across her back.

"Entrants..." The voice of Captain Nozel Silva enunciated, "the colosseum staff shall now begin handing out broomsticks for each of you. As Mages and Knights, you shall be expected to know how to fly a broom... so go ahead and begin flying. That is unless you don't know the flight spell. In which case, you fail task one and have to solely rely on passing task two".

Just as the Captain had stated, hooded and robed individuals began handing out broomsticks to each participants. Who in turn began preparing the right ingredients and uttering and, trying to master, the dark magic incantation for flight. Sarai and Amaya were not particularly knowledgeable in dark magic, the sisters believe that the only magicin the world that deserved to be called such, was Primal magic. Too them dark magic was an unforgivable sin against nature, usually resulting in or preceding actions of betrayal or malice.

Also, noticed by Amaya and Sarai, there were about twenty or so other entrants that remained standing still not bothering with the first test, obviously heeding Captain Silva's words about placing their bets upon the second hand to hand task.

'I think we should be getting some sort of notice for this...' Amaya signed to her sister. 'Those that do not use dark magic should be treated with a tremendous amount of respect'. Sarai chuckled softly as she replied, elbowing

Amaya, 'don't you think you're getting a bit ahead of yourself?'

The younger sister pouted, brushing a strand of her hair out from her eyes, before seeing her chance for a bit more teasing. 'He's here you know', she signed motioning upward at the assembled captains and their staff. "Shut up, sis!" Sarai stuttered, barely holding herself together as she caught sight of the faintest of glimpses of brown hair and a familiar side braid, staring at her from beside the Golden Dawn's captain.

'You soo like him...' Amaya nudged, her eyes flashing with a hidden desperate need to tease. Turning her head to the other side, Sarai became aware of many, dark, magically gifted applicants belittling those participants whom were standing out the first task. "Hopeless, worthless runts", one person sneered, as others disdainfully mocked the 'low class commoners'. She was about to intercede and berate these 'bastards' for impugning the resolve and wishes of anyone to join the knights ranks, when she was beaten to the punch by the appearance of a blonde haired boy slamming his fist into the main antagonists face.

"Don't you dare mock us! We may be commoners who don't stoop to using dark magic, but our loyalty to county and our resolve to become knights is just the same as yours!" Standing above the downed older male student, whilst his cohorts helped him up, some other people came forward and backed up the blonde boy. "Do you know who I am!" Yelled the older boy, wiping blood from his nose. "I am Marcus Aurelius, the grandson of General Sir Richard Aurelius..."

"I don't care! You're family may be a big time military family, but you have no right to look down on your fellow countrymen!"

As the older students walked away caring to their bruised egos, and snarling unpleasantness after them, Sarai walked over to the blond boy who seemed to be grinning amongst his friends. "You're amazing Thorfinn!" A girl with dark brown hair stammered, "standing up to those pig headed nobles".

"Yeah well... it was still reckless", a red haired boy added, rolling his eyes in dismay. "Oh come on, Jovick", Thorfinn responded. "It wouldn't hurt you to be a little more supportive. Gyda and I are getting through these exams and becoming knights, we'll leave you behind otherwise".

Appearing from the groups blind spot, Sarai, and Anaya, made the three jump as she introduced herself. "Excuse me..." she spoke, momentarily stopping when three sets of eyes shot towards her. "I saw your... message to those nobles..." Sarai was immediately interjected by Amaya bursting forwards, grinning madly and sighing 'which was cool!'

Sarai would have scolded her sister had it been for the boy, Thorfinn, not grinning as well and signing back 'I know right!'

She rolled her eyes and gently swatted her sister on the back of the head, 'please restrain yourself. We want to pass the second test, not get ourselves expelled'.

Thorfinn held his hand outwards as a sigh of greeting and shook both sisters hands, followed by both Jorvik and Gyda. "I take it you two are commoners like us then", the blonde boy continued. "Yes", she began, "I am Sarai and this is my sister Amaya, we lived in a small forest village out in the countryside before... before moving to outside the capital". Sarai didn't not notice the the slight glance that Thorfinn and Jorvik sent one another, upon hearing the slight pause in her story.

The manner of her families upheaval from countryside to town living still weighed heavy on her heart, not that she had ever confided of such with her mother or sister. They didn't need to know how much she hurt due to killing her own father.

"We too come from the outside the capital but we are orphans, abandoned by our parents and raised in a workhouse of the local authorities, on the border with Evenere", Gyda spoke. "We were raised to believe in human kindness and the power of hope that the knights protect. And well, here we are, wanting to join their ranks to assist in the protection of the Pentarchy".

The groups conversation was interrupted by the announcement from above that 'task two would be beginning'.

"All applicants, including those who chose to sit out the magic test of round one, will now be assigned random partners and be assessed on their fighting prowess", a different softer voice spoke. Looking up at the gallery above, Sarai saw the masked visage of Captain William Vangeance speaking, with Zeren by his side.

Noticing that the said boy was looking towards her, with a kind smile plastered on his face, made her heart rate increase and a furious blush spread across her face. Which only further increased Amaya's giggling from behind. "Do you know that guy?" Jorvik asked trying this red hair back into a wolf tail, in preparation for test two. "He looks like a royal or a high noble", Thorfinn added, disdainfully. "Best to avoid such people, they only look down on our like..."

"Even if he is", Sarai frowned, "Zeren is not like the rest of them. I may not know royalty or nobility but when I first met him there was an intense pain within his eyes. Good luck in your fights", and with that said Sarai away trying to show to her new friends that her friendship with Zeren was nothing they thought about high nobility.

As she stood before the nine captains, with her named opponent facing her and with her sister and new friends cheering behind her, Sarai shivered as she suddenly heard Zeren's voice enter her mind. "You're gonna do well, I believe in you!"

Fighting against her desire to look up towards the boy, she forced herself to grip her spear and then launch forwards into a powerful strike which caught her noble opponent off guard, allowing her to disarm him of his sword and then swung the butt of her spear around and strike the opponent straight in the face.

Seeing the brown haired girl disarm a noble, stunned Thorfinn, Gyda and Jorvik. They had already been able to sense that she was strong enough to match them in armed combat, but seeing her fight was something else, and that was before they even got to Amaya. Sarai had a dexterity and agility that was impossible to outmanoeuvre, and it made Thorfinn blush. Amaya, on the other hand, was more refined in her strikes. She was constantly poised and ready for any and all of her opponents moves, like a professional knight. Sarai was unorthodox but was nothing short of brilliant.

After nearly seven hours of examination, the coliseum moderators began to read out each participants name for the captains to raise their hand for, if they chose to or not. With almost two hundred entrants, the task of reading out names took a long time but eventually the moderator, finally, uttered "candidate Amaya". Steeling herself, Sarai watched in trepidation as her younger sister stepped forwards into he centre of the coliseums atrium. Amaya didn't have long to wait for a judgement, as immediately the hand of Captain Charlotte Roselei went up cementing her place within the Blue Rose Knights.

Following, immediately next, in quick succession, we're Thorfinn, Jorvik and Gyda. Gyda attracted the attention of Captain Dorothy Unsworth and Captain Rill Boismortier and chose to join the Coral Peacocks, delighting Captain Dorothy. Whilst Jorvik and Thorfinn chose the Black Bulls over the Green Praying Mantises.

Finally, her name was called: "Candidate Sarai". Stepping forwards, she saw her friends giving her thumbs up and grinning as they clutched their new knight squad robes. Initially, no one raised their hands but then suddenly all nine captains raised their hands, bringing the entire colosseum to a standstill silence of utter shock.

Blinking back tears of joy, Sarai suddenly found herself lost in the mismatched green and violet eyes that were staring down at her. That was all she needed to know where to go, "I would be honoured to join the ranks of the Golden Dawn", she announced.


	23. Chapter 23: The Scientist's Engineering

Chapter 23: The Scientists Engineering  
\- Essence Draining

Ever since the day the UrSkeks arrived on the planet nearly a thousand years ago and took ownership of the Heart of Xadia, they began experimenting on it. As a consequence of their actions, they suffered a splitting of their species in two, and whilst both divisions retained their immortality, the Skeksis Emperor became paranoid about loosing the power they obtained.

To prevent that from ever coming to pass, Skekso ordered SkekTech to begin a work on draining power from the Crystal of Truth; diminishing the power that was dealt out to the wider world. The Heart of Xadia, was theirs to do with as they pleased, and if they infused that power into their bodies then they could cheat death, even more than their immortality already did.

The actual process of draining of the crystals power began many centuries later, but it coincided with the corruption of elven Arch Mages and the humans discovery of Dark Magic. Not that anyone outside of the Crystal Castle knew what the Skeksis were doing, and yet both outcomes added to the greater affects of the Darkening.

And although the darkening never affected any human mages, insofar as he could tell, the Scientist ultimately wanted to get his talons upon the innate human primal mages. For if he combined their primal magic with the Crystal of Truth, and then subsequently drained all of that power, it would give the Skeksis an unlimited power boost, and an innumerate number of lives to live for.

However, the humans had dealt a tremendous blow to SkekTek's plan. Six of the Amari family were dead, and the seventh was in somewhere in Katolis. "Such a waste of potential", SkekTek muttered, wishing that the Hunter had intervened and captured the primal magic humans and brought them to the Crystal Castle. If the whole Amari family had been captured, then the plan would have provided his divided species greater power but with one single surviving boy, the chances of every Skeksis achieving that power was slim.

And whilst the Emperor wouldn't see that as a problem, the Chamberlain and the General would no doubt counsel him about the wisdom to have greater forces against the elves and dragons when the time came for their annihilation.

SkekTek himself knew that the work he was undertaking drastically shortened the lives of the elves, as well as weakening their connections to primal magics. Moreover, he was under no illusion that his work was causing the hurrying along the inevitable elf and dragon revolution that the Skeksis would find themselves fighting against.

Yet, politics were not his forte. He was the scientist the creator of all Skeksis weaponry, vehicles, communication devices and the machines that drained power from the Crystal.

Currently, SkekTek was trying to work out why the Crystal had suddenly stopped giving them power to replenish themselves everyday. "Unscrupulous Emperor..." the beaked and taloned scientist scowled, "true genius is never appreciated in its time". Flicking several switches and then pulling a lever, the result of his latest breakthroughs was interrupted by the sudden sensation of feeling himself being pulled in, or entranced, by the Crystals purple hue. He felt his whole body weakening and beginning to slowly dissipate into flecks of golden dust.

Just as he was about to be discorporated, the machine was suddenly switched off and the scientist was saved from death, by the arrival of the Chamberlain. "My my my, if Chamberlain had not arrived... poor scientist would be dead, no. Is lucky I arrived in time", SkekSil, jovially stated.

"The Emperor wishes to know how much longer it will be until we all can have our bodies replenished by the crystals power". Taking a scornful look towards his comrade, SkekTek patted his own body down. Making sure that he was all here. "I felt... I felt the crystals pull... I thought that I was close to restarting the crystals power supply to us again", the scientist ran a talon across his beaked face as he walked over towards the dials and levers that controlled his machines.

"However," he continued, "I cannot make the Crystal give us power anymore... I have changed the crystal's polarity. It no longer gives power but takes it from those whom stare into it. The Emperor is going to heave my head!"

With his head in his hands, the Scientist began to bemoan his failure anew. He only stopped when he noticed a curious expression on SkekSil's face. "You changed the crystals polarity..." the Chamberlain spoke slowly, as if making absolutely clear what he heard was abundantly clear. "I do not see a problem, Scientist", SkekSil continued, "if Crystal take power, then that power taken can be given to us... the Skeksis. No?"

Realising what the Chamberlain was inferring, SkekTek suddenly moved towards the machine once more and began to check the alignments of certain cogs. "Yes. Yes you are right, Chamberlain. My mistake has given rise to a new possibility for us to retain our immortality, grant us greater power and keep our enemies numbers in check..."

"Now you see it", SkekSil chuckled. "Now, you see the true worth in this change... we can gather elves and dragons. Drain them of their primal magic, and then feast upon it".

"Yes..." SkekTek murmured, "the original plan of devouring the primal humans would have only given us so much. But with elves and dragons... we will truly reign supreme".

Leaving the scientists experimentation chamber behind both SkekSil and SkekTek made their way towards the Throne Room, to tell of their idea to the Emperor. As they approached the main chamber, both Skeksis lords heard the argumentative voices of the General, the Scroll-Keeper and the Hunter.

"The boy resides in the human kingdom of Katolis", the Scroll-Keeper; SkekOk, told the Emperor before gesturing towards the Hunter... "according to SkekMal's reporting". "You dare to doubt me!" SkekMal snarled, nostrils flaring and his talons reaching for his concealed blades. "My tracking has never failed me... the hunt is all that matters".

"We do not doubt your skills, Hunter", the General, SkekVar, responded, "but... we know that Katolis is the largest of the five human kingdoms. So locating him would take time".

From behind his mask, The Hunter growled. He hated and despised those who held him, his hunts and tactics held in contempt. His information mistrusted by those who preferred knowledge and learning over the simply beautiful brutality of warfare. "I told you the truth of my findings", SkekMal goaded the General, "The boy is in Katolis. Joined with one of the human knight squads..."

"Forget the boy!" SkekTek interjected, earning himself a serious of scowls and dismissive looks from the Hunter and General. "How dare you!" SkekVar yelled, "the boy is the key to our continued preservation of power..."

A sudden loud bang was heard, as the Emperor slammed the end of his Staff down on the ground, ceasing the General's tirade.

"Explain yourself SkekTek! Why is the boy suddenly irrelevant?"

Walking forwards into the centre of the Throne Room, SkekTek inclined his head and spoke directly and genuinely. "My Emperor... during my recent review and experimentations of the Crystal of Truth, I have discovered a new way forward". Taking a deep breath, and push gout his chest, he continued. "With assistance from the Chamberlain, I have successfully reversed the crystals polarity..."

"Meaning what exactly..." SkekSo enunciated, slowly and to the point. "How does this help us?"

"The Crystal no longer gives power, it takes power", SkekTek replied bowing his head. "But... an advantage of such a change means that we no longer need the boy. We can capture elves and/or dragons to drain them of their magic. For our consumption. Furthering our immortality and eliminating the numbers of enemies we face in Xadia".

After, about twenty minutes of discussion with the Chamberlain, the Emperor looked again towards the Scientist, glee shining in his eyes.

"Then get to work! If by draining the lives of the loathsome elves and arrogant dragons can help our cause, then all the better for it!"

Turning his head towards the General, the Emperor spoke.

"Go forth General, and find strong elves! Bring them back to the Crystal Castle. As many we can imprison, the more lives we can have, the more essence we can drink!"


	24. Chapter 24: Dungeons and Dragons

Chapter 24: Dungeons and Dragons 

Before Xadia was divided in two and long before the arrival of the UrSkseks, the elves under the singular leadership of Licht; many temples housing many artefacts of immense Primal magical power were built around the whole of the continent. Many of which were laid in the west. The Arcane Temples were of the original six primal magics: Moon, Sky, Sun, Earth, Ocean and Stars. This was before each arcanum became adopted by a single elf clan after Licht's disappearance, and the disintegration of the elves as a singular civilisation.

Many of the varying temples had their magical artefacts and totems of worship, were taken back into elven possession when Aaravos's treachery was made public, and his creation of dark magic was passed onto humanity. Whom in turn began discovering and learning more secrets of dark magic. However many of the temples couldn't be reached in time and so the order given from the elves guarding them, was to destroy and bury them deep underground. Thereby keeping the secrets of primal magic out of the hands of human dark mages, corrupt kings and other duplicitous individuals.

However, what the elves never expected or considered a possibility was that the destroyed and buried temples would become rediscovered, centuries afterwards due to earthquakes and landslides uncovering them. Such probabilities were not determined to be factual due to the relative stability of the geography of the western half of Xadia. As a result of the elves miscalculation, humans subsequently gained entrance to some Arcane Temples; whenever the land split open revealing such.

And so it was this kind of scenario that led Zeren and Sarai, along with Thorfinn and Jorvik to be sent to one an area of geographical disturbance, for their first Mage Knights mission. The discovery of another Arcane Temple deep within the kingdom of Duren, right in the middle of that kingdoms bloody civil war, the artefacts within were believed to be that of the Sky Arcane. And sought after High Mage Julius Novachrono.

Meanwhile, inside Duren... Crown Princess Annika was backed by her longtime partner; Princess Consort Neha and the royal army. She, and her allies were engaged in a civil war against her traitorous uncle, whom was vying for the Throne. Duren was no stranger to varying claimants to the throne in its history leading to war, but Princess Annika was seen by some as being undeserving of the crown. And that was even before anyone factored in that she was gay. Her uncle, backed up by a sizeable army, took great care to label her as an '_invert_'.

However, a sizeable army of nobles and ordinary citizens supported Princess Annika due to her compassionate nature and her no nonsense attitude towards corruption. Of whom many of her uncles forces were. Due to the earlier notice given to Duren by Katolis about not being able to send military aid to back up Annika's claim to the throne, the ambassador Lord Flevence had been peeved but begrudgingly accepted that the border between humanity and Xadia did count as more important.

But... when the Temple was discovered Crown a Prince Harrow as well as captains Vangeance and Yami offered to send some of their recruits to aid the fight against Annika's uncle, in exchange for the sole rights of everything '_magical_' within the Temple. All treasure was and would belong to Duren, but artefacts deemed to be sensitive magical artefacts for the Citadel, and the Rogues, was to be returned to Katolis. The answer that was received from Princess Annika's court was a very bitter "agreed".

"How far is the dungeon from here?" Thorfinn complained, frowning at way the dark haired boy, holding the map, was standing next to Sarai. And who appeared to have her entire rapt attention, all to himself. Looking up from the map and back toward the letter, given to him by Captain Vangeance, Zeren acknowledged the discomfort and rising annoyance from Thorfinn. "We are not very far from the Manu Falls from which, according to Captains Vangenace's letter, the dungeon is four hundred metres from".

"Thorfinn", Zeren added, "I know you're excited about this mission but we all must remember that there hasn't been a discovery of an Arcane Temple in nearly a hundred years. So we must be careful". The group of four sixteen year old knights were currently walking along a dusty forest track, on the border of Katolis and Duren, that winded alongside a river that was led to the famous Manu Falls. "Come on", Sarai spoke up, twirling her spear in her hands, "where's your excitement for adventure?"

Thorfinn wanted to hurl an angry retort back at Zeren and frown at Sarai's laid back attitude but found himself stopped by Jorvik, who raised his hand and pointed at the ground. Whereupon, the group saw vicious fissures spreading along from further ahead and below a small gully.

"Those must be the radiating cracks formed when the ground split open and revealed the Temple", Zeren announced. "We will recover the artefacts for our captains, and then rendezvous with the army of Princess Annika".

Reluctantly, Thorfinn accepted Zeren's words. It wasn't that he found his fellow teenage knight annoying or that he despised him for him; for obviously being noble in heritage, despite him never having admitted it. Thorfinn found that the familiarity that seemed to exist between the two Golden Dawn knights was irksome and annoying. Contrarily, Jorvik got on extremely well with their de-facto team leader and already regarded him as a friend, just like Gyda.

"Over there!" Jorvik yelled, pointing towards a half buried archway protruding from the Earth with ancient looking runes written across it. As the four knights approached they became aware of an elf skeleton laying in the ground, its horns clearly marking it as such as did its obvious half decayed elvish clothes. "It's an elf..." Thorfinn blanched, having never seen the sight of, either living or dead, the 'enemy' of humanity.

"It's hideous", the blonde boy snarked, kicking the bones with his boot, not seeing the narrow eyes and clenched fists of Zeren. "These creatures... if they could only just accept humans using magic the we could all live in peace. But no... they despise us!" Jorvik nodded in agreement as Thorfinn ranted, whilst Sarai scowled at the desecration of the dead.

As the only one of them who had seen Zeren's reaction, she was now believe that the secret that he was holding was that he was part of the human pacifist movement, that wanted to abandon all forms of magic and move closer to elves and dragons again. 'I can understand why he may want to keep this secret... the pacifists are almost as persecuted against as the Amari's were'.

"Hey... Zeren", she uttered, attempting to broach the subject with him, however she found herself suddenly deafened by an excruciatingly loud roar from high above. "Dragon!" Yelled Thorfinn, bringing out his crossbow and quiver of poison bolts, whilst Jorvik withdrew a broadsword, wreathed in dark magic, which only alerted the dragon to them.

"_Umbiri Desoto_". Before Zeren could take control of the situation, Jorvik raised his sword high in the air and then proceeded to cast a dark magic spell, at the same time as carrying out a massive diagonal slash through the air. The resulting slash, tore through the air straight into the dragon and bifurcated it. From nose to tail, two halves of the great beast fell to the ground each side of the gully.

"Well", Thorfinn grinned. "Thanks to Jorvik, we now have a source of material for magic and money. And our path forwards is clear!"


	25. Chapter 25: Connecting as a Team

Chapter 25: Connecting as a Team

Friendships and Rivalries 

Upon entering the temple the group of knights found themselves in a large entranceway with three series of downward leading stairways, and then they saw the desolation around them. The walls were scorched, and punctuated with holes from either magic or arrows, eluding to a past attack, and then everywhere around them were signs of death. Bodies. Elves, mummified over time due to the Temples being buried, still dressed in the remains of their robes and armour clad human skeleton warriors were strewn across the floor. Laying simply in the manner to which death befell them.

If it was unclear to what happened here, seeing armed human skeletal remains inside what had been an elf temple. The young knights were now left with very little doubt that humans had attacked here before the elves had mandated to flee back to Xadia. However, as the human remains clearly proved, the elves had not gone down without a fight. Sarai and Zeren were saddened by style sight of such death, where as Thorfinn and Jorvik were less affected. They both bowed thwir heads in solemnity but Zeren could tell that both the other boys were still curious and suspicious of elves.

"This must have happened back when the continent was originally divided..." Sarai spoke, manoeuvring around the dead bodies. "It must have been buried for so long, this is a graveyard..." Jorvik murmured, "we should move on. And try not touch anything, there may be booby traps".

"So which way, oh exalted leader", Thorfinn frowned, refusing to meet Zeren's eye. "You're the noble amongst us, so obviously your the one whose gonna be given the praise and reporting of our findings to the same bastards in power. Right?"

"Stop that!" Sarai interjected, waking forwards and slapping the blonde boy across the face. "I know that you don't think highly of nobles and royalty, but Zeren is not like the castle dwelling royals of the political elite". Turning to look at her leader, and first friend, the reddish brown haired girl saw that the prior words had inflicted a flicker of hate within his mismatched violet and green eyes. Seeing a single tear trickled down his face, Sarai turned around. "Zeren... what's wrong?"

Walking back towards him, she placed a hand on his face. Also seeing the unexplained tearfulness within their leader, Thorfinn and Jorvik both approached. "Hey", Thorfinn began, "what's up with you? Your a noble, why are you crying?"

"I said stop!" Sarai spun around and shoved the other boy back. "Zeren might have be born into high wealth and social standing but the day I met him, I saw that for some reason he holds a deep hatred for that class of people!"

"I don't feel like a noble", Zeren muttered, "If they knew who I am, they'd kill me". He had meant it to be under his breath but unfortunately, Sarai and Jorvik both heard and spun around to face him. Yet, before they could question him, Zeren had begun to walk away towards one particular arched downward stairway. "I don't want to talk about it", he uttered as he disappeared out of view, only reappearing as a fire spell ignited in his hands. "Its this way".

Looking in the direction that Zeren had gone in, Sarai made it her point to send one last glare towards Thorfinn before following her friend and leader. "Do try not to provoke our team leader", Jorvik spoke, annoyed, to Thorfinn, "we are supposed to be building inter squad relations. Besides, Captain Yami told us to be respectful with Zeren". Scowling, the blonde boy looked between the brunette girl and his red haired friend, seeing that their expressions were of similar disbelief and concern towards his actions, Thorfinn relented and nodded his head. "Very well. I'll restrain myself from annoying him. But he should be honest with us!"

Sarai frowned but so and nothing. She wanted to say that Thorfinn was being inconsiderate but she too realised that Zeren was hiding something, something big, about himself from them. And as much as she wanted to believe in her first real friendship, outside of her sisterhood, she knew that she couldn't just blindly trust him yet. Which stung her aching heart.

Come on", Jorvik spoke again entering the downward stairway that Zeren had gone, "we have a mission, and our squads honour to uphold". Resolved to carry on, Thorfinn moved off and began descendeding the stairs feeling his way along the dusty crumbling walls whilst keeping an eye on the uneven surface of each step. As he, Jorvik and Sarai descended further down the stairway, they noticed that the flickering flame in Zeren's hands wasn't giving off a sinister feel or darkened presence. As dark magic often did. Before Sarai could enquire about how his spell was able to achieve that, unlike Jorvik's spell that had downed a dragon, Thorfinn walked past her and placed a hand on Zeren's shoulder.

"Hey, man... I-I'm sorry if I upset or annoyed you earlier, but in my defence you are kinda silent and a bit withdrawn". Zeren flinched slightly at the mention of his withdrawnness. "If you think that I am ignoring you because I'm one of those conceited disdainful nobles, then you are wrong about me entirely", the leader explained. Turning to face them all, Zeren wore an expression of intense sadness and fear, "I did not mean to make you feel bitter. Although I get why you would feel as such towards the nobles and royals".

Taking a slow ragged breath, which made Thorfinn forget his jealousy and supported Zeren slightly as his leader continued. "You all see me as a noble and whilst I was born into a noble family... the truth is... I hold no love or respect for the ones in power now. The kings and the lords. They all have blood on their hands, and I will get even with them". Spinning around on his feet, Zeren hid the tears that were forming in his eyes before noticing a sentence carved into the wall next to him.

'_Piir hoarth ent ther Ath Ahnvae_'

Seeing that Zeren's thoughts were no longer on the prior subject, Thorfinn followed the other boys line of sight till he too found the elvish writing. "That's elvish writing!" Thorfinn muttered angrily, thinking about the painful history and violent history between humanity and Xadia.

"It says..." Zeren interrupted, trying to break away from the anger that was welling up inside of him due to Thorfinn's words. "Treasure chamber and sky of night". He was about to move off, when Sarai stepped in front of him and blocked his way. With hands on her hips and a confused scowl on her face she looked cute, but Zeren quickly shook his head of that thought.

"You... you know elvish!" Sarai was blindsided by this tidbit of information, and out of the corner of her eyes, Thorfinn and Jorvik were as well. "How do you know elvish? And who are you really?" The response she got back was not what she had expected, as before Zeren could speak a loud clanging started reverberating deep down in the bowels of the buried temple.

It sounded metallic in origin but had a cadence about it that suggested that something living had been disturbed by their presence.

"We need to hurry onwards", Zeren spoke moving past Sarai. "We need to complete our mission". Frowning at being denied answers, the brown haired girl simply rolled her eyes and sank back into step, followed by the other two boys.

Eventually, the narrow stairway opened up into a large vaulted and colonnaded hall, the ceiling above them was pitch black and painted with many little white and gold stars. The sole light source was a thin strand of light that had shone down onto one of the columns before being reflected around the hall by a series of mirrors hanging from every other column. Emerging from the stairway, the four teenage knights were completely awestruck by the scale, architecture and decore of the colonnaded hall. "This is amazing..." Jorvik exclaimed, "elves may be humanities enemy but the construction of this place... the architecture..." he mused.

Thorfinn was silent as he moved forwards appraising a few carved columns, running his hand along the grooves of ancient runes and pictures. "Yeah, you're right Jorvik", he relied, "this place is something else. It may be a ruin now but it's still beautiful". Nodding her head, Sarai pulled a sketch book from her satchel and began to make a rough, as far as she could see, drawing of the huge hall. Before moving over to one of the columns and sketching runes and carvings. "It's beautiful..." she murmured quietly, as Jorvik walked over to her and pointed at another set of runes. The series of runes appeared as concentric circles with an either an X drawn through them or what looked like a little wave above.

"It's all so sad", Jorvik suddenly spoke. Turning her head, Sarai looked towards the black haired boy, reappraising him slightly in the face of his differing opinions of elves from Thorfinn. "How so?" She asked. "The elves and dragons don't like dark magic. Humanities ancestors refused to give it up, our arrogance and the treachery of a few elven Arch Mages, led to war..."

Jorvik frowned as he turned to face Sarai. "I can see that you and Zeren are close, and that somehow he has either a connection to elves or a desire for peace with them. As do you", he spoke.

"But... you must realise that your shared dream will not be easily accepted by the majority of those in power. The Pentarchy murdered its only true force against Xadia, and those that replaced them wield a bastardised semblance of that power". Halting from himself speaking, he pointed towards Thorfinn. "Thorfinn, me and Gyda, all grew up in a orphanage due to our parents being killed by elves. Me and Gyda never truly blamed Xadia for their deaths, we blamed the human kings for continuously giving the elves a reason to hate and attack us. But Thorfinn... he was never able to free himself of that hatred".

"So you're saying for me to be wary about what I say about wanting peace with Xadia around Thorfinn..." Sarai replied. "Thorfinn understands why some want peace but his anger still burns hot. And it makes him impetuous at times". Sighing, the girl leant on her spear, "I get that... but why tell me and not me and Zeren together?"

Meeting he gaze, Jorvik spoke. "It's as you said, about when you first met him. I can see it too... there's anger and a deep pain in his eyes. And that scares me".

Their conversation was interrupted by Thorfinn striking his sword against a flint to cast a light onto an oiled rag he had tied to a stick. "There we go now we have a bit more light", he stated holding the flame high and illuminating more of the hall ahead. "Good job Thorfinn", Zeren responded, momentarily stunning the blonde for his receiving praise. "Ah your warming to me aren't cha?" Thorfinn smirked, causing the leader to almost smile, and narrow his eyes. "You have your uses I suppose".

Chuckling, Thorfinn walked ahead casting the light outwards for the group to see where to go. "Is it me or is there something else here?" Jorvik gasped, turning around and holding out his broadsword. "It's like that sound we heard earlier is getting closer". Sarai angled her spear in her arms, whilst keeping her ears pricked for any minute audible disturbance. '_Something is wrong... I don't know what but there is evil in this temple_'.


	26. Chapter 26: Discovery

Chapter 26: Discovery 

The Tomb of Valdamar Valerian 

Heroes. Many people aspire to be one but very few actually managed to become one, and both humans and elves have that in common. Heroes were rare amongst elves but downright unheard of in human societies; and whenever one did come along, Xadia always held out hope that maybe just maybe the animosity and hatred between the two sides could be talked away. So they could instead bring about the belief of many oracles that had come about since humanities birth into Xadia. The '_fostering of understanding and love'_, the supposed spoken words of Licht before he disappeared into the stars.

Yet, heroes came and went, and wars kept occurring. No such person; human or elf ever achieved such a title as hero in the last two hundred years. The last human hero had been the king that had spilt the original human civilisation into the five independent nations that became the Pentarchy. He may have been human but the elves did in some small way respect him for his actions. Weakening the exiled humans, meant that they would be divided and far less likely to desire revenge against Xadia.

The greatest elven hero was a Skywing Arch Mage who later became a reclusive High Oracle. Risen to prominence during the arrival of the Urskeks, thousands of years ago, he was the best friend of the leader of the elves: Licht. He had tried to warn his leader about the potential duplicity of these '_space travellers_', and not be '_beguiled by the stories of stars, galaxies and universal stratagem_'.

Valdamar Valerian became the de facto leader of the elves when Licht chose knowledge of the universe, abdicated his position and gave the UrSkeks the Crystal of Truth or as elves called it 'the Heart of Xadia'. The Orrery that was built, and still stood, on the highest peak of the Atlas Mountains was where Licht took up dwellings and began learning from the UrSkeks. Projecting his aura throughout time and space.

It was Valerian that led the elves into battle against the UrSkeks, and then once the elves had been thoroughly defeated, he dissolved the singular elven civilisation, decrying it. From there he abandoned his people and went into self imposed exile, leaving six High Elf Lords to become and found the six arcane tribes.

When Valerian died his body was interred in an Arcane Sky Temple, as befitting a skywing elf. The last elf to be given a traditional Temple Burial. As such, when humanity was cast out of Xadia, Valerian was never reinterred in the elven controlled East. As elves considered it sacrilege and extremely taboo for a Temple lain elf to be disturbed, especially one of such high regard. And the familiarity and adoration that his presence still gave rise to, so many centuries after his death, only symbolised how much of a hero he was to all elves.

"I'm sorry if I'm frustrating you", Zeren spoke lowering his head, so that his eyes became hidden behind his dark brown fringe. "I know you want me to explain... things to you, but I-I-I don't want you to be threatened by those people because of me".

The four young knights had been following a set of runes, copied down by Sarai and then translated by Zeren, marking the way through the maze of columns toward the treasure vault. In silence for most of the trek, since discovering Zeren's knowledge of the elven language and his positive outlook of humanities oldest enemy.

Looking towards their forlorn leader, the other three frowned but said nothing. They wanted to say something positive that would bring him out of his moodiness but at the same time they wanted to know the truth about Zeren. Not some collections of half truths.

Finally, Sarai broke the silence. "Can I just say this", she began, "Zeren... you are my first friend who is not my sister. I really want to continue this friendship... but you have to be open me". It was not hard to, despite the low light, to see that her words had made the boy even more crestfallen than he already was. There was a conflict building up within Zeren, his desire for human friends and his will to ensure that Xadia and humanity were set on a different path.

Zeren remained silent, focusing on translating the runes which Sarai had copied down and moving the group forwards. However, unknown to him, his continued silence was begging to grate on her nerves of Thorfinn and Sarai. Only Jorvik seemed to be giving him space for the moment, yet Zeren knew that even he would ask for the truth soon. Suddenly sensing something descending from the ceiling, Zeren came to a dead stop before spinning around and looking upwards into the darkness.

"What is it?" Sarai asked, annoyance replaced by concern in her voice. "Something's up there", her friend whispered back, "it's been tracking us since we reached this level of the Temple". A thought entered her mind as she followed his gaze upwards. "Is it the same thing which Jorvik spoke of, the thing which sounded metallic?"

"No this is different... its probably some sort of giant arachnid", Zeren guessed. "I can hear a faint singing of strings. Although we should move on..."

His words were suddenly cut off but a series of razor sharp spines shooting down, from high above, and impaling themselves in Zeren's right arm. Immediately flinging themselves into action, Thorfinn and Jorvik bolted forwards and used their shields to protect the group whilst leading them towards a pair of huge oaken doors in the distance. A loud hissing sound reached their ears as one by one six giant spiders with spines protruding from their backs landed on the ground and began to run towards them, spitting silken webs and baring four large fangs in their mouthes.

"Shit, shit, shit... shit!" Thorfinn growled as he drew an arc of runes with his sword and then lashed out with the sole dark magic spell he knew, resulting in the ground beneath the spiders eight legs turning to sand. "That won't deter them for long", Thorfinn yelled, moving forwards to support Zeren, "we need to reach the end of this damned hall". Hurrying onwards, they heard increased hissing coming from behind them followed by the soft moving pads of eight footed spiders.

"They smell the blood..." Zeren wheezed, feeling an intense pain in his right arm. "Yeah well..." Thorfinn responded. "If that's your way of trying to subtlety suggest I 'leave you behind', you can bloody well forget it! You may be a noble but you're still my team leader and I'm not leaving a team mate behind. Especially as you haven't explained yourself yet".

"It's not that", Zeren answered, remembering one particular spell that Eris had taught him, "I can..." a coughing fit abruptly stopped his words, and a small spattering of blood oozed from his mouth.

Turning around, Sarai and Jorvik, who had reached the oak doors, saw what was happening. "He's been poisoned..." Jorvik uttered, "and those spiders are closing in!" Sarai felt as if her heart was constricting. She tried to move back to help the others but was grabbed by Jorvik. "You can't... you'll only hinder their progress if young back", the dark haired boy spoke. And then it occurred... a blinding flash of silver ice erupted from a silver rune, seemingly, written by Zeren and freezing the spiders in an ice strike.

"_Aspiro Frigis_!"

Thorfinn was stunned by the power of the spell as it tore through the spiders entrapping them in solid ice. "Bloody hell..." he muttered, his eyes went towards Zeren who had managed to stand on his own to cast the spell, but now looked haggard and very weak. "Okay then", he began, "now you really have to tell us who you... what wait!" Moving forwards he caught Zeren as he collapsed to the floor, looking at his leaders right arm Thorfinn could see a dark purple rash spreading upwards to his main body. "Crap!" Turning his head to call out to Jorvik, he jumped as he saw Sarai their worry etched on her face.

"He needs medical attention", Jorvik stated, helping his childhood friend support Zeren towards the oak doors, and the chamber within. Clutching her spear tightly in her hands, Sarai forced herself to not think negatively about potentially loosing a friend. "He will get through this", Thorfinn murmured, "you didn't see it just now, but I saw a fire in his eyes that showed his fighting spirit. Admittedly I wasn't expecting him to unleash primal magic on those spiders".

Sarai and Jorvik were jolted out of their worry by another tidbit of information about Zeren. "Primal magic... that's not possible, you must have his heard the dark magic incantation", Jorvik remarked. "I know what I saw. And I know what I heard", Thorfinn restated, "he said Aspiro Frigis, and then wrote some sort of silver coloured rune in the air upon which he blew, and where the ice came from".

As the three knights and their unconscious leader entered the chamber they were immediately stunned by the mounds upon mounds of ancient Xadian treasures. And at the centre of the circular room was a rectangular sarcophagus, upon which fell a single beam of sunlight. "Whoa..." Thorfinn exclaimed, as he and Jorvik, carried Zeren over to a space that was fairly free of treasure and laid him down. Walking over to him, Sarai flinched at the sight of his bloodied and rash covered arm; still with a few spines embedded. Kneeling down beside him, she gently reeves his jacket and rolled up the sleeve of his tunic before getting to work cleaning the wound with water from their drinking supply.

"You so owe me after this is over", she whispered to her unconscious friend, "not to mention Thorfinn and Jorvik". It was then that she saw a leather cord around his neck from which hung three things: a shard of purple crystal, a small silver tag; upon was engraved a portrait of his family, and lastly, a small golden sphere which opened up to reveal a small purple stone inside. Looking more closely at the engraved family, Sarai blinked as she saw the horns on top of their heads and the wings, a young woman, possessed.

"You have an elven family..." she had intended her words to be quiet but unfortunately due to her nature of this finding, her voice was full of shock and surprise. She attempted to not draw the attention of the two other boys by slapping a hand over her mouth but it was too late. Her surprise had drawn them over to her. Looking down at the etching on Zeren's necklace, Thorfinn frowned whilst Jorvik sighed; almost understanding of their leaders reticent behaviour.

"It makes sense..." Jorvik spoke finally. "And this picture proves it, Zeren must be the child of a human and an elf. It would explain his knowledge of elf culture and language. Not to mention his use of primal magic, and his reticence to explain himself".

"Well I'll say this much", Thorfinn replied, grinding his teeth together. "If he didn't have much to explain about before he certainly does now!"


	27. Chapter 27: Visions and Memories

Chapter 27: Visions and Memories

Return of the Oracle 

Deep within the recesses of his mind, Zeren knew that at some point he would have had to choose between humanity and Xadia... but how could he, when the choice was so heart wrenchingly awful. And so he had always run away from confronting it.

That was until he met Sarai and Amaya, and then Thorfinn, Jorvik and Gyda. Through them he had gained human friends, and actual bonds to a life he barely remembered and secretly wished he'd had. And now he truly wanted to keep his new friendships with him, yet he was terrified of what they would say or do once they knew about his Amari heritage and the fact that he was raised as an exile by elves in Xadia.

However, when the spiders attacked from their alcoves in the above vaulted blueish-black painted ceiling of the colonnaded hall, he hadn't even considered the consequences to himself. He had just wanted to protect his teammates, his usage of primal magic had been instinctual to defend Thorfinn, Jorvik and Sarai. And now he had outed himself as a human that cold wield primal magic, which was even more suspicious for the others to be wary of him.

Knowledge of elven language and culture could easily be explained away by stating that he had learned them from books... but actually completing primal magic was only possible if you were of elf blood, or an Amari. Both of which were both death sentences under Pentarchy laws.

Whilst Zeren remained unconscious, with Sarai sat by his side tending to his injured arm and minor fever, Thorfinn and Jorvik both began to carry out the mission. They had found the treasure chamber, not realising that it also happened to be a tomb, and began to list all of the artefacts that they found. From gold and Jewels to tomes and scrolls of magical artefacts, nothing was left off the list. Captain Vangeance and Captain Yami had instructed the knights to write down everything they saw within the Temple, and then mark them by how much magical potential they could offer humanity.

In the centre of the chamber stood the rectangular mausoleum with the name of whomever lain inside written in elvish upon the doors. Meaning that without Zeren, Thorfinn and Jorvik couldn't figure out who was inside. Moreover, the both boys had talked about possibility of breaking into the tomb but neither of them really wanted to, and Sarai was adamantly against the idea. The dead, either human or elf, deserved to be left alone. Yet, by the orders they had been given, the treasures surrounding the mausoleum however, were up for grabs.

As he rested, Zeren was faced by the ghostly memories of his human family. '_You are an Amari... the last of us' His father Sion stated. 'You must show the Pentarchy that we cannot be simply forgotten... you are the key to the justice that is deserved for our murders_'. His mental image widened to include his mother Lady Ulrica and then beside her were his siblings, Dalia, Andrei, Reina and Lysander.

All of them, including his father, were dressed as he remembered their departing the ancestral house in Duren eight years ago. But their clothes were torn, blood stained and the injuries inflicted upon them bled into his dreams. The anguish and anger on their faces made him, the him watching from within his mind, break down in tears for having to see them in the manner to which they died.

"Mother, farther... Dalia, Andrei... Reina, Lysander..." Being spirited away to, and then raised in Xadia, Zeren had never actually had the chance to come to terms with the fact that his birth parents and siblings were dead. His adopted elven family; Otar and Geencha had taken him to a small shrine in Somerton's vicinity so that he could grieve and pay his respects, but they had never actually sat him down and talked about death as a concept and how to move on from it.

Floating through his mind, away from the dead bodies of his family, Zeren was confronted by the small haggard body of Astoria's High Oracle: Mother Aughra. As he approached her, the vision became clearer and he became aware of a voice he recognised calling out to him... "Zeren, please wake up. We-_I need you_..."

"_You seem conflicted, Zeren Amari_", the vision of the High Oracle of Astoria spoke. "_You miss life in Xadia but at the same time you also worry about loosing the human friends you had made since returning to the Pentarchy_". Nodding his head, Zeren took up a seated position in front of the Oracle. "_Mother Aughra..._" he began, "_How can I ensure that your prophecy of peace comes about, when I'm too scared about being found out as an Amari_".

Smiling a soft, wrinkled smile, Aughra rescued out her hands and drew a circle of silvery runes in the air. "_Memento Augmentalis_". The space in between the boy and the oracle suddenly was filled by a shimmering window of stars and suns. "_The prophecy I spoke of to you is not completely understood. I do not know if you are the destined peace bringer or someone important who is a precursor to the destined one. All I saw was you and a girl, fighting side by side and defeating those whom wanted to end the human pentarchy's current rulers..._"

"_You are important... how so, I do not know. But you will save the the Pentarchy. And humans will see you for who you really are, a light of hope_". Zeren looked slightly agitated but knew from prior experience, when receiving an oracles wisdom it was considered extremely rude to express doubts whilst in their direct presence. In this case, a dreamscape, those same rules applied, Mother Aughra was the High Oracle the oldest and wisest of all the Six Xadian Oracles. And she could read thoughts even over great distances.

"_You need to have faith in your friend_s", Aughra stated, "_tell them the truth. They want to believe in you, the girl certainly does... but they have doubts. So alleviate them with your story_". Seeing a flicker of emotion in her eyes, Zeren reached out and tried to touch Aughra's arm. "_What did you just see_?" He asked, reaping that the oracle had just divined something. "_You have feelings for this girl? She is the first friend you made back in the West. Your friends will trust you". _

"_How can they_!" Zeren scowled, "_Thorfinn and Jorvik lost their parents to elves... as did Gyda. They're going to hate me, and Sarai... she and Amaya will never want to see me again"_. Tears drifted from his eyes, as he remembered certain memories... the white magic eagle sent from his father telling him to flee, the sight of the Lux Aurean Golden Knights taking him away from his life in the village of Somerton. "_I'm going to be alone again if I tell them... and then all I'll have is my anger and hatred towards the Pentarchy..._"

From her seat in the garden of the high oracle, Mother Aughra looked through her trance and sought out the boy whose anguished and injured state had involuntarily reached out to her. "_You won't be alone, Zeren Amari. The friends you have now shall remain good to you. You just don't know it yet_". As the her words drifted over him, Zeren felt the heat and pain in his arm receding and he heard the voice from before speaking, although he could tell that they weren't taking to him.

"He's okay... his injuries are stable and healing, and his fever has broken". The voice sounded relieved but also carried a small amount of annoyance as well. 'Sarai', he realised, she sounded tearful. "We need to know..." another voice cut in, exasperatedly. "When Zeren wakes up we need to ask once once and for all who he is?" With an internalised unconscious sigh, Zeren knew that Mother Aughra was right. He had to tell his friends about him being the last Amari and being raised as an exile in Xadia.

Thorfinn and Jorvik sat by the fire eating some of their mission provisions, whilst checking over the list of objects that they had selected to take back to the Captains and the High Mage. Said objects were mostly small and could easily be packed into rucksack and satchels, the biggest object was the discovery of a silver staff with what looked like a purple cross guard halfway across it, which would be carried back by hand. "Anything on Zeren's condition...?" Jorvik spoke worriedly, know that they could not leave until their leader was awake.

The look he received back from Sarai was of forlorn sadness. Jorvik could tell that Thorfinn was interested in the spear wielding girl, but he could also see that Sarai had a bond with Zeren. And so he had tried to keep his childhood friend away from Sarai whilst she tended to their leaders injuries and fever, the last thing the girl needed right now was to be thoroughly annoyed by Thorfinn's flirting.

"Nothing yet", Sarai replied holding Zeren's triple pendant necklace in her hand, and admiring the purple crystal. Just as Thorfinn opened his mouth to speak, there came a noise of discomfort as their leader coughed and pushed himself upright. His pair of heterochromia eyes looked so tired but also at the same time a shine to them that they hadn't seen before.

Before anyone could speak, Sarai bolted forwards and wrapped her arms around Zeren. As Thorfinn approached, ready to ask his question, he was beaten to the punch by their leader himself: "Guys...", he coughed, "I need to tell you something".


	28. Chapter 28: Truth

Chapter 28: Truth 

Reforged Bonds 

"Please... please promise me you'll keep this secret!" Zeren stammered, pushing himself upright and leaning against a solid gold elven statue. "Come on", Thorfinn interjected, "whomever you are cannot be that bad..." The blonde boy was silenced by Zeren's voice, "you say that now... but you have to promise to keep it secret".

"We promise", Jorvik and Sarai answered glaring at Thorfinn to get him to agree. Slowly, the boy nodded his head tying his hair into a wolf tail and sitting down opposite his team leader.

"My name is Zeren Amari, youngest son and last surviving child of Sion and Ulrica Amari. My family was... and remains the only humans capable of using primal magic. And we were betrayed and murdered out of spiteful jealousy. I know about elven language due to being raised by elves as an exile in Xadia".

"You're an Amari..." Thorfinn gawked, dropping his sword resulting in a dull clang on the stone floor. "The Pentarchy kings killed your family and then ransacked your home archives... The reason that was told throughout the five kingdoms was that the Amari family was guilty of high treason", he continued.

"Although..." Sarai interjected, "news was rather limited after that point. The people in and around where me and Amaya grew up, before we moved, refused to believe the news. To us the Amari family were the heroes of the Founding War. We all great felt great shame in the Pentarchy, for what the kings had just done... killing off their greatest allies".

"Yeah, its the same thing with me, Gyda and Thorfinn", Jorvik piped up brushing his red hair out of his eyes. "We all grew up orphans but we, being commoners were told that the Amari family was the sole High Noble family that refused to accept or abide by the condescension and decadence that the royals had towards their fellow countrymen". Taking a few steps forward the redhead boy took a small token carved onto a piece of wood from around his neck and showed it to Zeren.

"This is all I have to remember my parents by", Jorvik murmured, almost breaking down but composing himself just in time. Zeren widened his eyes as he stared at emblem in Jorvik's hand. "That's a coat of arms..." Within the small carved shield were a pair of daggers covered by a cloth draped arm carrying a scroll. "I never really knew what they did, but I what I knew was my parents were ardent supporters of your family, Zeren". Jorvik's words kickstarted Zeren into a more positive frame of mind, for now his fears of being abandoned for who he was were not a reality.

However, Jorvik raised his hand and placed it on his leaders shoulder. "My parents raised me, for the little amount of time we had together, to support your family but when they died in an elven attack I turned my back on the Amari's... yet with you", he stammered, " I would like to support you anew. If the Pentarchy, the Rogues or even the Militancy try to kill you, then I will stand and protect you!"

Seeing tears forming in Zeren's eyes, Sarai moved to sit next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "The kingdoms may have taken away your family and forced you to grow up an exile... but you have us" she gestured to herself and the two other boys behind her. She was interrupted by the sound of Thorfinn clearing his throat. "Urgh... I'm sorry Zeren for not trusting you, and for making snide remarks but Sarai is right. If you'll still have me... then I hope we can continue to be friends. Jorvik, and Gyda, consider you a friend anyway. And if the Pentarchy tries anything again, we will stand by you".

Crouching down beside his team leader, Thorfinn fist bumped Zeren's shoulder showing his reformed commitment to their friendship. "Aw such a bromance moment..." Sarai smirked, as Thorfinn looked abashed.

Jorvik snorted in agreement, "you're so aggravating you know that", he laughed loosening his expression into that of a smile. "Although, I could also say the same thing about Sarai...", Thorfinn interjected. "She was so concerned about whether or not Zeren would wake up..."

Thorfinn was interpreted by a short sharp punch to the stomach by furiously blushing Sarai, "shut up... I-I-it wasn't like that..."

"Methinks you protest too much", Jorvik grinned at Sarai, noticing Zeren's equally flustered look. In response, Sarai simply stood up and strode off in embarrassment to further explore the treasure chamber. Muttering about "annoying boys", as well as Thorfinn's innate ability to drive her up the wall.

"Is she going to be okay?" Zeren asked, his eyes drifting after his first friend. "She'll be fine", Jorvik answered, "we've teased her about you're friendship, a while now, and whilst she gets flustered she always comes back all chummy again".

"We should cataloging the treasure chamber", Zeren spoke, trying to divert his attention from Sarai and their inadvertent closeness. "We've already done most of the list..." Jorvik interjected, "the only place left to categorise is the... urmmm, central mausoleum". Zeren didn't miss the looks of extreme reservation about that particular detail of their mission. "The only reason we haven't done it is brace we were thinking that once you woke up you could translate the words on the memorial plaque".

Something akin to horror skimmed the surface of Zeren's mind at hearing that he would have to open, desecrating, an elven tomb for the sake of his mission. The human part of him, raised by his real parents was telling him to continue but to show great deference and decorum. Whilst the raised by elves part of him was screaming for himself to categorically refuse.

Watching his friends blank faces, Zeren suddenly realised that they were deferring the decision to him, as the braking into a tomb of an elf would affect him a lot more than it would them. With an excruciatingly intense sadness within him but an equally strong resolve to bring about peace between east and west, Zeren told himself that as long as they were respectful then opening the mausoleum was probably fine.

"Are you sure about this", Jorvik spoke watching the reserved look on his team leaders face, as he traced his fingers over the plaque a live the mausoleum. "You don't have to do this if it makes you feel like betraying the elves that looked after you", he spoke comfortingly. "It's... okay", Zeren replied but still sounded uncomfortable, "judging from these runes the elf buried within is centuries long dead. Which is a little easier for me to handle".

Nodding his head in understanding, Thorfinn asked the question that Zeren had been silently pleading wasn't going to be asked. "Who is buried here?" He was about to answer, when Sarai's worried voice caught his attention. Moving over towards them, the brunette girl glared are Thorfinn, "you've roped Zeren into this? You know that this is bound to be uncomfortable for him".

"He said he was fine with it", Thorfinn responded. "Zeren also said that whomever is buried here is centuries dead. So there probably won't be any chance of any elves coming back here".

"As if this place wasn't already a clue", Jorvik muttered, "this place is little more than the remains of a long ended battle".

Sarai frowned trying not to show her uncertainty, "I just think you should be more considerate of his feelings. After all, he was looked after by elves in exile in Xadia". Taking a step forwards she placed a small kiss to Zeren's cheek, "I don't want you to feel as if you are disrespecting the elves that brought you up". Blushing, the team leader returned the kiss and turned his attention back to the mausoleum doors, using his primal magic to decode the writings.

Eventually, Zeren looked up with a look of unease upon his face. "What is it?" Thorfinn asked, "is the door jammed or something?" Pointing to the elven memorial words, Zeren spoke and the translated. Perfectly.

"_Valdamar Valerian. Cor'Quessir ent arraness_".

Looking back towards his the other boys, Sarai saw how awestruck they were. "It's amazing to hear elvish spoken by someone who can accurately speak it", Jorvik smiled. "It really is a beautiful language, and the people themselves are really kind..." Sarai responded. "If only humanity could learn to not fear and hate them". Shaking her head of pessimism, she turned her attention back to sketching the memorial plaque.

"It states that Valdamar Valerian..." he trailed off, "was a '_king and a hero_'". Bowing his head in silent reverence, Zeren prayed to the only elven god he knew, Eru Ilúvatar, before seeing the final phrase.

"_Sen lies at Tel' Revar dath_".

A sudden chill ran down his spine as he spoke those words, and he was reminded of Mother Aughra's prophecy... about him standing on a lonely mountain spire whilst his king desired revenge and his acolytes conspired against him. "What does that mean?" Sarai spoke copying down the runes in her sketchbook, "is it about this Valerian fellow?"

Placing a hand on his shoulder, Sarai shook Zeren out of his temporary discomfort. "No this last bit doesn't... as far as I can tell, anything to do with Valdamar Valerian". Shaking his head, and brushing his dark hair out of his eyes, Zeren continued. "It simply reads: '_What lies at the Dreams End_'".


	29. Chapter 29: Relics of a Bygone Era

Chapter 29: Relics of a Bygone Era

The Staff of Baldemnic

Upon opening the mausoleum, the four knights discovered a central plinth where lay the wrapped mummified remains of Valerian himself, around the plinth were four skeletonise golden knights holding glaives. Seeing them shocked the young knights, as they realised that the elven guards had been so loyal to their fallen leader they had allowed themselves to be buried alive to be with him in the afterlife, once more.

"They died standing up..." Thorfinn murmured before he noticed Jorvik and Zeren now their heads in silent prayer, admiring the deceased elves fortitude and love of their leader. Sarai held back, as did Thorfinn, as they were kinda blindsided by the scene of such devotion. "_I'm sorry... Lord Valerian_", Zeren prayed, "_forgive us_". At the base of the plinth, between the figures of two dead golden knights, was a small unassuming wooden lacquered box with ivory inlayed depictions of strange creatures.

Tall with long arms and legs, with tufts of willowy white hair atop their rectangular heads and dressed in long flowing grey robes, these creatures depicted on the box were very obviously not elves. Or even dragons for that matter, and that confused the four knights immensely. "Who... what are these creatures?" Sarai asked, running her fingers across the ivory inlay before making some sketches into her book. "They look powerful... more so than elves..." Jorvik spoke up "perhaps, a long time ago, Xadia was home to more than just elves and dragons..."

"...And these creatures were made extinct in the fight for resources", Thorfinn interrupted, "the elves want Xadia their own way, harmonious and respectful of nature. Maybe these things wanted to take the continent in a different direction and a war broke out". Reaching forward, Thorfinn lifted the lid of the lacquered box revealing the contents within. "Papers... and stones", he snorted "a bit anticlimactic if you ask me". He was silenced by a quick smack to the head by Jorvik who muttered, "quiet. Texts are just as precious as any gold and precious gemstones. Maybe more so".

Turning his attention back to the box, Thorfinn began to rifle through its contents handing them one by one to Zeren for further examination. As it turned out the texts formed part of a diary that explained the final part of a battle that Valerian led against creatures that were called the UrSkeks. However, because Zeren refused to disturb the tomb anymore than was necessary, which included removing the original texts from the tomb, he ended up having to transcribe every page of runes and writings into his journal for Captain Vangeance and, presumably, the High Mage.

The final object that was brought out from the box was a medium sized spherical orb that reflected a dark blue light across the inside walls of the mausoleum. "It can't be..." Jorvik uttered, mesmerised as her held the orb in his hands. "It's a primal stone. Although of which element is yet unaired".

"If it's a primal stone, we have to take it with us", Thorfinn spoke, "If we tell our captains that we saw one and left it behind, they would be beyond angry at us for not bringing it back. And that's not including what the royals would do".

"Sorry Zeren", he added, "but you know it's true". A forlorn look flickered on the leaders face as he realised the truth of the situation, he had to do this otherwise he'd have to explain why elves were important to him. Which would lead to him being revealed as the last surviving Amari. Nodding his head, Zeren wrapped the primal stone up in a cloth and handed it to Sarai; who placed it inside her satchel. "We'll only show it to the High Mage, sir Julius is an honest man", Jorvik announced, "Captain Yami always speaks highly of him".

"Hey guys", Thorfinn uttered, "over here". Looking over towards their other teammate, their curiosity was replaced with concern as they saw Thorfinn standing next to the mummified body, and pointing at something laying across the body Valerian himself.

Sighing Zeren, Sarai and Jorvik moved towards their friend and observed the object on the deceased elf's chest. With both hands resting on what looked like a tall staff, the knights were transfixed by the jet black metal with half moon at the top; in which was suspended, in thin air were two clock hands. And along the crescent were a series of red and purple gemstones, and etched across was the word '_Baldemnic_'.

"That's Sky Iron", Zeren gasped, "it's exceeding rare and only found in certain parts of Xadia". Drawing his own twin sky iron daggers, the Amari boy began to compare the staff to them. "Are those sky iron too?" Jorvik asked. Handing one over, Zeren nodded his head. "They were a gift from the elves that raised me back in Xadia on the day I had to return to the Human realm".

"An elven staff... Valerian must have been a powerful Arch Mage", Sarai whispered in admiration, bringing the conversation back to the staff. "We should leave now, taking the orb is one thing but this is something else altogether..." She expected some push back of her idea from Thorfinn but instead it came from Zeren. "I'm going to take the staff with me..." he mused reaching forward and gently lifting the elf's arms and removing the staff. "I don't know how to explain it but... I feel a connection with it". Looking somewhat sceptical but deferring you her friends judgement, Sarai let the subject go and placed the notes, list and few small artefacts into her satchel. "Okay guys lets head leave..."

She was interrupted by a sudden clanging of metal ringing through the mausoleum, the treasure chamber and the colonnaded hall beyond. And then it happened. A loud blood-curdling screech resonated through the cold empty air. "What the bloody hell was that!" Tborfinn gasped spinning around moving out of the mausoleum and over to the chambers ajar doors, for a look into the hall. "That has to be the metallic sounding creature I heard before", Jorvik spluttered, grasping his dual swords. "In that case", Sarai stated, "I think we have outstayed our welcome".

Nodding his head, Zeren held the staff in his hands, as Jorvik then placed all the original diary pages back into the small lacquered box. Beating a retreat out of the mausoleum, bowing as they did, Zeren wrote a silver rune in the air and whispered "_Cione Lapis_". The doors, which had had the seal on them broken by magic, suddenly resealed themselves allowing the dead elves inside of once again regain their eternal slumber. "What was that spell?" Jorvik asked, as they and Sarai met up with Thorfinn. "_Cione Lapis_, it means sealing stone. I resealed the mausoleum after we left, I want Valerian to be able to remain at peace".

With a quick look back into the treasure chamber Zeren was aware of the single beam of sunlight that shone down on the mausoleum had now disappeared, leaving the room in mild shadow. "Rest in peace... Valdamar Valerian" he whispered, shutting the chamber doors behind him and hurrying after his friends. "You okay?" Sarai asked, squeezing Zeren's hand comfortingly.

"Yeah, I'm fine… I just want to leave this place as soon as possible". Continuing to hold hands, both girl and boy relied of Thorfinn's sense of direction and Jorvik's defensive dark magic imbued swords, whilst keeping their own ears sharp for that clanging and screeching.

Half an hour later.

"Just admit it", Sarai sighed, "you've forgotten the way back haven't you?" The look on Thorfinn's face as he turned around was one of petulance, "I have not forgotten the way, I know that it's around here somewhere..." he replied, "and anyway this dungeon is massive. We probably just past the stairway back the way we came". Jorvik rolled their eyes at the blonde boys words, "why am in it surprise by your lack of observational skills. You were always hopeless when we were kids". He was about to elaborate with an embarrassing story to lighten the groups mood as they searched for the way out of the dungeon, when suddenly he felt an ominous aura.

Just as he was about to voice his concerns out loud, a series of arrows shot forth and struck Thorfinn. "Get back!" Jorvik yelled bolting forwards and drawing his dark magic imbued swords, "Tenebrous Praesidium!" Using his swords to write a black rune in the air, to create a shield of dark magic was created over them all, as well as making a wall of fire nineteen them and whatever had fired the arrows. The young knights then heard clanking of metal and the sound of taloned feet walking towards them. The thing was advancing.

Zeren and Sarai moved forwards and each grabbed took ahold of the injured Thorfinn and helped to carry him away whilst Jorvik gave them cornering fire. However, out of the wall of flames burst a tall bird-like creature with a beak like head and face with taloned hands and feet. The thing moved towards them with its sinister yellow eyes burning into the knights souls, and its body silhouetted by fire.

"What the hell is this creature!" Jorvik yelled, as he ran following Zeren and Sarai with the injured Thorfinn. "This better not be something you know anything about but haven't told us, Zeren". The blank look the redhead got back was all he needed to know that this was just as new to him as it was to the others. "This is just horrific! This person is immune to magic and seems to have immense reflexes and strength", Sarai added just as a knife was flung past her, thrown by the enemy.

Taking a deep breath, Zeren moved forwards and drew his twin sky iron daggers from the sheaths on the small of his back. "Who... what are you? And why are you after us?" From behind him, he heard Sarai and Jorvik both begin to question him with a series of exasperated annoyed statements. But, all Zeren wanted right now was to keep this things attention on him rather than his friends. "Tell me!" He yelled, noticing for the first time that the creature was now properly sizing him up. "Are you a different kind of elf... other than moon shadow or sky wing?"

No sooner than he had called the thing an elf, contemptible rage was very much evident on its face. "You dare call me an elf! No humans know about my kind!" Quicker than Zeren could react the creature bolted forwards and made to slash at his chest but he was saved by Jorvik's dark magic spell striking the creature backwards. Before the creature could attack again, Zeren quickly wrote a silvery rune in the air. What looked like an arrow appeared in the air, "_Lux Vitisque Repertory_".

Looking at his friends, Zeren hung his head before saying "follow the arrow, it is a Light Finder spell. It will lead you an exit".

"No way in hell!" Sarai yelled, furiously gripping her spear in her hands. "I- We are not leaving you..." Desperately trying to get towards him, to beat some sense into him, she found herself being held back by Jorvik. "Let go dammit! I won't let him die..."

"Sarai", Jorvik interrupted, "I know you care about him but we need to get Thorfinn out of here so he can get medical attention. Which we can't do with that chasing us. I know it hurts but we need to let Zeren handle this fighting".

With an irritated scowl in her face, Sarai spun around and yelled back to Zeren, "you better come back to us! If you die, I'll kill you!" Noticing a sly grin on Jorvik's face, she elbowed her friend in the side as she helped him carry Thorfinn away, following the magic arrow. "Not a word", she growled fighting off a blush across her face. "I didn't say anything", the redhead raised his eyebrow and chuckled. "You didn't need to, I could see your words across your face", she muttered.

As soon as both knight, along with the injured Thorfinn, had disappeared it of sight and a up a stairway further along the hall, Zeren raised the staff and wrote a rune, muttering "Fulminus!" A web of lightning raced forth and struck the creature in the face bringing it to its knees but those yellow eyes were still exuded energy and determination, meaning that Fuliminus was no where near strong enough to defeat him.

Moreover, his attack had now only solely focused the creatures advances on him. The creature wasn't even trying to kill the others anymore. "Where did you get his staff?" A low rasping voice emanated from the creatures beak, "no elf nor human has the right to wield the staff of Baldemnic! Hand it over, and I may let you and your friends live".

"Who. Are. You!" Zeren growled, sending another lightning bolt straight at the attacker only this time the creature was waiting. Suddenly standing up, it took the electricity through its body and then ejected the lightning out of its mouth right back at him making him dive out of the way, and give the creature an opportunity to pounce.

"I am a Master, and you may call me... SkekUng".


	30. Chapter 30: Ambushed!

Chapter 30: Ambushed! 

Duren's Rebel Prince 

_Wish not for treasures you can hold_

_No gleaming jewels, bright and cold_

_For finer still than pearl or gold_

_The treasure of a tale well told_

The words of an old poem suddenly came to mind, as Zeren barely managed to dodge the redirected lightning bolt fired back at him from the now named SkekUng. The meaning of the poem was that physical treasures were less valuable than the words of legends. "SkekUng..." he murmured, pushing himself upright and striking our with the ice and wind spell: '_Aspiro Frigis_'.

"You're a Skeksis... aren't you!" Zeren gasped, recalling the story from Mother Aughra. Immediately, yellow eyes met violet and green, making the Skeksis growl. "How do you, a mere human know of us! Your kind are simply the food we allow the Arathim. We are the gods of this world... the Lords of the Crystal!"

Anger flared in Zeren's eyes and without realising it he held up Valerian's staff, not really understanding what to do with it, but ready to use it as a mace. "You may call yourselves lords but you appear more devil like..." he trailed off when suddenly he felt an sharp pain stinging in his shoulder. "You speak of us, and yet you are still so blind. And yet..." SkekUng scowled. "It is because you speak of us that you dangerous. I do not know who you are but I cannot let our existence be known to the wider human world".

Fear replaced anger in Zeren as he realised that the story told to him by Mother Aughra was true. '_The Skeksis are real... the corrupters of the Crystal of Truth_', he thought. "_Mother Aughra, the Heart of Xadia... it's all true..._" That appeared to be the absolute worst thing to have said the and there, for SkekUng launched himself forwards so fast his talons carved themselves across Zeren's shoulder and chest. "How do you know of her?" Slicing through skin and flesh, SkekUng decided it was best to get information out of the boy before killing him.

As if responding to the boys cry of pain, a bright green light erupted from the crescent moon atop of the staff, and the floating clock hands began spinning. Throwing up his arms, the Skeksis covered his eyes as the boy brought the staff slamming into his chest, the impact of which was hammer like but also created a significant amount of blow back, hurling the creature backwards smashing into columns that made began to challenge the halls already weakened structural stability.

The strike also caused the boy to be hurtled backwards as well, crashing him into a mound of rotten and desiccated wood. Formerly small sized trebuchet, for the temples original defence. "I'm not done with you yet!" SkekUng roared, metal wings bursting from his back attached to which were a series of long knives.

Seeing his chance to get away, Zeren pushed himself upright, put his hand to his wounded shoulder to cauterised it with a fire spell, before moving off in the direction of his friends. As he hurried towards an area where he could feel a breeze drifting down from

above, he thought that he should perhaps cause some distractions to slow down his pursuer and yet, as if reading his mind the staff in his hand lit up with a reddish purple tint.

"_Fera Ignis!_"

The spell words came to him almost immediately despite him having no knowledge of how he managed it. With a slight turn of head, Zeren watched in disbelief as a gigantic horned dragon made entirely out of green flames swirled around him and then charged straight towards SkekUng. "You may impede me now but I always get my prey!" The rage filled vow rang in Zeren's ears as he turned and ran through a final archway leading to another stairway towards the exit.

'_Sarai, Thorfinn, Jorvik... please be safe'_.

Meanwhile, outside the buried dungeon. Two young knights stood a safe distance away from the Temple entrance, whilst the third lay against a tree with bandages wrapped around his torso another around his head. Worry and fear coursing through them, as they waited for Zeren to return to them. "He'll be here", Sarai murmured, gripping her spear tightly and trying to reassure herself. "You really like him don't you..." Jorvik whispered, making her cover her face with her scarf. "Shut up!" Sarai muttered, "can we please not talk about this now".

With a smirk on his face, Jorvik turned away to check on Thorfinn, knowing full well that Gyda and Amaya would love to tease Sarai about this new development. Then, as he prepared to move off he was suddenly stopped as he heard faint sounds of soldiers marching towards them. Drawing his swords he created a protective dark magic circle around himself, Sarai and Thorfinn. "_Tenebrous Praesidium!_" Whirling around, startled by the presence of Dark Magic, Sarai was about to ask what was going on, when she saw the charging soldiers. "Who are they?"

Her question was answered by the fluttering of banners appearing over the brow of a hill, and in between trees depicting two crossed golden swords. The emblem of Duren's Prince Regent; Prince Harold, the man currently leading a rebel faction against his own niece. Crown Princess Annika, and her wife; Princess Consort Neha.

The sound of horses clip-clopping on the randomness of the stone and soil ground, caused by the earthquake which had revealed the buried Arcane Temple, came to an end the moment the first wave of charging soldiers saw the gully leading to the exposed Temple entrance.

"Your grace!" One of the soldiers called out, turning his horse around and looking back towards a tall goateed man stressed in sumptuous blue and green robes with a tasselled purple sash around his waist. Upon his head was a circlet of gold and rubies, presenting himself as the true king rather than his invert of a niece.

"It appears our spy within Annika's court was correct about the location of a newly discovered Arcane Temple", the soldier spoke bowing his head to the rebel royal. "Plus", he added, "there appears to be some knights from Katolis here as well. Part of the agreement that she made".

Prince Harold ran a hand over his goatee before pointing to the knights, whom had protected themselves with a dark magic shield. "These knights must be the ones from the Golden Dawn and the Black Bulls! They must not be allowed to return to Katolis. The High Mage shall not find hear from these children about whatever they might have found!"

The princes words were straightforward but also non direct, a way for him to have plausible deniability. Yet, it was clear to all his soldiers, and to the young knights, that the order was to 'kill the knights' so that the other kingdoms and the High Mage didn't get the artefacts from the Temple, and to keep them away from intervening in the civil war.

Gripping her spear tightly, Sarai scowled at the oncoming soldiers whilst Jorvik muttered something about '_being better informed next time_'.

"You may be knights from two of the nine Pentarchy squads", the prince regent yelled, "but you being here is a threat to my ascent to Duren's throne". As soldiers poured over the gullies edge and towards the protective dark magic circle, Jorvik and Sarai prepared for an earlier that expected fight with Crown Princess Annika's opposition faction.

Just as the soldiers were creating the gully, an almighty explosion of green fire erupted from the entrance of the buried Temple, in the shape of a dragon. "_Fera Ignis!_" A familiar voice cried out making both Sarai and Jorvik turned to see their team leader emerge from the temple holding the mysterious staff outwards in the direction of the incoming army. What followed next was a massive torrent of green flames, in the shape of a dragon, exited the Temple flew over him baring it's teeth and carrying something in its mouth.

"Why is he always injured!" Jorvik murmured, trying to keep the frown off his face. As their team leader reached them, as the green flames continued overhead and towards the advancing soldiers. "I'm fine", Zeren wheezed, "I have healed myself as best I can. Now let me help Thorfinn". Kneeling down beside the blonde haired boy, he placed a hand over the wounds and then proceeded to draw a silver leaf rune. "_Sacrum Lumen_", immediately Thorfinn's wounds began to close up and his breathing became less staggered.

Prodding Zeren lightly, to get his attention, Sarai realised that there were a series of metal spines still impaled in his left shoulder. "What happened in there! I can see you healed your right shoulder but this?" She asked, gesturing to the spines and trying to get him to speak.

Unfortunately, her question was interrupted by the sudden agonising screams of the advancing soldiers being torn limb from limb and being devoured alive by the creature that managed to free itself from the flame dragons mouth. Wincing slightly as she accidentally bit her tongue, Sarai stared at the bird like creature with metal protruding wings, taloned hands and feet.

"That..." Zeren spoke, "is the thing we heard in the Temple. I tried to use magic but it just ate it up and sent it right back at me". Jorvik frowned at that information, "you used primal magic right? But what about dark magic". Before Zeren could stop act, Jorvik pointed his sword towards the creatures exposed back and drew a triangular rune with a circle in the centre. "_Hastam Tenebris!_" A spear of darkness shot from the sword point straight into SkekUng's back, resulting in a howl of pain induced fury.

Spinning around, the Skeksis's yellow eyes bore into the eyes of the four young knights. Terrifying them. "You dare use the Darkening against one of its progenitors! You will suffer for your insurrection".

However, before he could attack them a series of arrows rained down on them, fired from the rebel army of Duren. With a vicious sadistic snarl, SkekUng spun around and the launched himself straight into the mass slaughter of Prince Harolds soldiers. "Do not get in my way! These humans are mine!" SkekUng roared, his voice both raspy and forceful, scaring the older knights. Before they were ultimately bifurcated, reduced to ash or devoured alive.

The looks on the faces of the the young knights and, as far as they could tell, Prince Harold as well, was stunned horror. Such brutality and speed in a creature that was completely unknown about was terrifying. "Impossible..." Thorfinn stuttered, standing up, his sword falling from his hands as he surveyed the dead bodies before him. As well as the blood drenched Skeksis. "We have to get out of here", Jorvik spoke running over to Thorfinn and grabbing his arm. "I'll use the spell Captain Yami's packmule deputy gave us", he spoke. "_Dark Spacial magic - Portal_".

As he walked through the portal, Jorvik looked briefly over his shoulder to check that they had time to escape before the creature e for them. "Lets just get out of here", Thorfinn spoke, "we have what we came for... A list of the items in the Temple, as well as a detailed layout. Plus with the staff Zeren has, I'm sure the High Mage will be happy..." He was stopped from speaking by Sarai who gave him a shove through the portal, "less taking more walking", she snapped. Taking Zeren's hand, she marvelled at how he had managed to heal his injured left shoulder so quickly.

Only, then did she sense a tremendously powerfully aura racing towards them. "You won't get any for me!" Raising her spear to defend them both, Sarai felt the air around them still before she realised that the creature had cast magic. She was thrown backwards through the portal and watched as Zeren was being pulled towards the creature. The last thing she saw before disappearing into the portal was the gully strewn with corpses and blood, and flying above the chaos with talons outstretched and pulling at invisible ropes was the enemy.

Severed, butchered bodies of hundreds of soldiers loyal to a rebel prince... the man responsible for the chaos within Duren, his soldiers and scouts were being torn asunder by an enemy unknown to anyone. It was then that a loud trill on a bugle rang through the air, announcing the ordered withdrawal of Prince Harold's rebel army.

However, all Sarai felt was a deep seated worry for Zeren who was now facing an unknown creature alone. And as much as she wanted to believe in his strength, she knew that he was going to need a lot more power with him to beat the thing. Or at the very least, force its withdrawal.

—

[_beginning poem from Jim Henson's the Dark Crystal lore_]

**_R.I.P Dame Vera Lynn and Sir Ian Holm_**


	31. Chapter 31: Reinforcements

Chapter 31: Reinforcements 

The Black Bulls

Surrounded by forests, with a nearby stream, was a tall cube-like mansion structure. It looked as if it should be desolate and falling apart but as Sarai followed Thorfinn and Jorvik out of the portal, her train of thought was ended by the sight of the Black Bull flag flapping in the wind atop the tall spire on the roof.

"Welcome to our squad hideout, Sarai", Thorfinn spoke proudly. "We can get support here before we go back and help Zeren".

A scowl emerged on her face as she rounded on the two boys. "We _could_ have stayed and helped!" She growled, annoyance and worry warping together in her mind. But then a hand was gently laid on her shoulder, making her flinch. "I know", Jorvik replied tearfully, "but Zeren can hold his own. He has primal magic and whatever that staff thing is. So before you know it we will have our squad reinforcements and you can berate him yourself".

The affect of those words calmed her nerves. Her scowl disappeared and became a furious blush, which Sarai tried to hide by pulling her scarf over her mouth and nose.

"Come on then", Thorfinn announced. "We need to introduce you to our squad mates!"

"A word for the wise", Jorvik whispered in her ear, "they may act like slobs and freaks but they're good people". Pushing open the heavy oak doors, the two boys led Sarai into what looked like a large lounge area. There was a seating area where two people; a small dark haired girl and a large shadowy, person sat eating. Opposite and right of them, were sofas where a pink haired bikini clad woman was asleep surrounded by wine bottles. And in the centre of the room were a two males, a black haired boy and a blonde boy, fighting over trivial matters.

'_Mislabelled pudding... seriously_', Sarai scowled hearing a part of the boys conversation. Still, rolling her eyes and following Thorfinn and Jorvik she found herself ambushed by a curly haired brunette boy who began shamelessly flirting with her. Not waiting around for anyone to stop her, she punched the flirter in the face knocking him backwards into the asleep drunkard.

Suddenly, all eyes were on her, except the asleep woman. "You kind of deserved that Finral", Jorvik laughed, walking forwards and pulling the brunette boy up. "You were hitting on someone whom already has someone special".

Before anyone else could speak, there was an almighty crash as the door at the opposite end of the room was thrown open and sailed across the room and landed on the floor. "What the bloody hell is going on out here! You brats better not be destroying the place!" The atmosphere of the room dropped as all the Black Bulls sat bolt upright in their captains presence.

"Hey, the newbies have returned and they brought a friend", the voice of Yami Sukehiro announced. Walking forwards, Yami stood in front of his two newest recruits and the golden dawn recruit. "So..." he drawled, "what's your excuse for making me wait for your report. You know I have to report to Julius, and I refuse to let William get any further stars than us".

"We got into trouble", Thorfinn began. "Our team was attacked by some strange creature inside the Temple, and then once we all regrouped outside we were ambushed by Duren's rebel Prince". With frustration and worry burning anew within her, and having had enough of her friends taking a long time to get to the important part, Sarai brushed past Thorfinn and scowled up at Captain Yami. "We need reinforcements! Out forth is still back at the Temple fighting this creature".

Noticing the look in his captains eye whenever he got annoyed, Jorvik angled his way in front of Sarai but instead of receiving an annoyed rant as the room had expected. They were met by a loud boisterous laugh.

"Hahahaha! Your the kid with the spear. I gotta say at the entrance exams you certainly looked combat ready!" Towering over her, the Captain of the Black Bulls looked terrifying but his words were kind and supportive, in an abrasive aggravating way. "I was kinda hurt you chose William over me, but then again all nine captains did raise our hands for you. So eight of us were bound to be disappointed, William sure gained another strong knight to his squad".

"Hey Captain", Thorfinn asked, "we really do need some reinforcements. Our team leader, Zeren..." he was cut off by a sudden increase in volume, caused by the entrance into the room by a frowning silver haired girl. "Why must you lot be so loud. Your so annoying", flicking her hair out of her face as she walked over towards the dining table and sat down by the gluttonous girl and the hulking shadowy person. "So how was the mission...?" The girl spoke tersely. "...That I wasn't allowed to go on. Despite me also being a newbie to the Black Bulls".

To Sarai, this other girl was quite clearly royalty. Her silver hair and violet eyes gave her away as a member of House Silva, one to the cousins of the main Katolis Royal Family. Sarai was sorely tempted to smack this royal princess away and force drag her team mates back to their original point. Bringing help back to Zeren. "We're sorry you weren't allowed to join us Noelle", Thorfinn responded, "but we proper mage knights..." we was instantly cut off by a blast of water slamming into his chest, tumbling him backwards. "_Miserable commoner_", the girl, Noelle, retorted before catching the narrowed eyes of Sarai.

Yet, before either girl could begin arguing with each other, Captain Yami interjected again. "So... you need help ehh". Without even turning his head, Yami bellowed towards the, still floored, Finral. "Get over here Finral, your my ride after all. We need your magic".

"And where pray tell, are we going?" Finral asked, as he was hauled upright by Luck and Magna. "Duren", Thorfinn replied. "It's near the location where you were beaten up for flirting with a nobleman's wife. Which is also where our latest mission was".

With an indignant huff, Finral moved over towards his captain and the other three knight recruits. "I'm coming too", Noelle growled, "I'm not being left behind again". Ignoring the glare and grumble from Sarai, Noelle grabbed the other girls arm, standing beside her. Stubbornly challenging anyone to tell her otherwise. "Fine... you can come too", Yami sighed, "but I want you to stay back. Got it. You still need to learn magic control".

After what felt like hours, the group finally stood outside the black bulls hideout and were presented with a portal, courtesy of Finral, back to Zeren's location. "Before we go..." Yami was interrupted by Sarai, brandishing her spear in her hands and sending him a murderous glare. "Get. Moving!" She snapped. "We have already left Zeren alone with that thing too long enough". Without even waiting for the Captain to answer her, Sarai stepped through the portal and disappeared. Smirking, Thorfinn and Jorvik couldn't help but murmur potential theories about 'Sarai and Zeren'.

"Loyal and strong", Yami chuckled, "no wonder she chose the Golden Dawn. Okay, let's go. We won't be shown up by two Golden Dawn recruits!" Stepping through the portal, the Captain followed by Thorfinn, Jorvik and Noelle followed Sarai to reinforce Zeren in the fight against the enemy.

Noelle Silva had nothing to loose, with her ongoing desperate battle to show to her older siblings that she wasn't weak and pitiful. At fifteen years old, all she wanted was familial love and an acceptance of her usefulness as a mage knight, which was why she had manoeuvred herself into coming along as reinforcements despite knowing only one spell. A purely defensive spell. And yet, the youngest of the House of Silva, soo hated and scorned by her family, cast out of the capital, still tried everything she could to try and '_push past_' her limits to prove her detractors wrong.

However, upon seeing the scene before her, her determination gave way to an exorbitant amount of panicked fear.

Stepping out of the portal, the first thing she saw was the gully strewn with blood and decapitated bodies. And standing in the centre of the death, was a tall bird like creature with metal wings sprouting from its back and held aloft in its talons, was the remains of a human soldier. From whom, the creature was consuming blood from a gaping neck wound. "What the hell is that!" The unmistakably bold curt voice of Captain Yami uttered. The sudden noise alerted the creature to the presence of more humans, and with an ear splitting screech the thing turned and threw the dead body at them.

She was saved from being splattered with blood and guts by Sarai raising her spears and slicing the body in two, so that both halves fell either side of the emerged group. Blinking, Noelle suddenly felt a great shame wash over her, a lifetime habit of looking down on and disdaining those of common blood. And now, a commoner had protected her. She knew what her siblings would have said: '_pathetic_' or '_weak_'. However, in her short time with the Black Bulls she now understand that commoners were just as strong, maybe more so, than those of royal or noble birth.

So seeing Sarai move so quickly, and slice the dead body in two and then, without any hindrances, race forwards was such a clash of class stereotypes.

"Wait up Sarai!" Thorfinn yelled running after her wielding his sword. Noticing her captains eyes glaze over slightly, Noelle could tell that Yami was slightly peeved that his newest recruits were taking instructions from a golden dawn recruit rather than him. "Over there!" Jorvik shouted, racing past her pointing towards a massive ice stack from which several icicles were being flung at the creature. "It's Zeren!"

Immediately interested in what kind of person her newest squad mates had as an inter squad leader, Noelle followed Jorvik until they were over the gully's ridge. She was about to ask Jorvik whether this boy was using dark magic to create his ice weapons, when Captain Yami beat her to it. "The boy from the Royal Commission... I knew he was strong but to be able to use this amount of magic... who the hell is this boy?"

Noelle frowned as she watched her fellow newbie black bulls follow race forwards, following Sarai, straight into battle. "They're so... confident", she murmured, transfixed by their combined teamwork.

"You should learn a lot from them", Yami responded. "After all, this is the team that you will now be apart of". Doing a complete one-eighty, Noelle stared at her Captain only to see him withdraw his black katana and begin his walk into the battlefield. "Stay back Noelle", he stated, "we may need distance based attacks. Which is where your sole spell comes in handy". Nodding her head, she raised the wand that she had bought in the capitals black market with Vanessa, and aimed towards the creature.

"_Aqua Indicibus!_"

From atop his tower of ice, Zeren stared in surprise at his friends return. '_I told you to leave, to be safe...'_ he grimaced. 'I cant loose anymore people I care about'. It was then that he saw a flash of brown hair as he saw Sarai run into sight, Thorfinn and Jorvik at her side followed by the tall muscled man wielding a large katana behind them. 'The Black Bull captain', he remembered from the royal commission. Further behind, he saw a silver haired girl firing water bullets at SkekUng, who simply dodged in mid air before flinging down metal knives from his tail and wings.

"You will not escape me, little human", SkekUng screeched. "The Emperor will be most pleased at the return of Baldemnic's relic".

Drawing his wings up, SkekUng suddenly few flew up and out of range of a huge dark magic slash that would have struck him had he not sensed the aura of a Captain below. "Watch out!" Zeren yelled, jumping down from his ice tower and hurrying over to the familiar personage of Captain Yami. "This... thing can absorb magic and send it straight back you! It's done so many times to me".

"Well damn..." Yami replied, "and more to the point! What the hell does it want with you!" Before Zeren could reply he found himself tackled by Thorfinn and Jorvik. "What the bloody hell were you thinking! I know your the honourable let others go before you type but seriously..." Thorfinn sighed, throwing an arm around his friends shoulders. "Just because we believed in you, doesn't mean that you always have to look out for us. We're an inter squad team!"

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry for worrying you", Zeren hung his head. "I don't want to loose anyone else". He was interrupted by a hand slapping him across the face. Looking up through bleary eyes he saw an annoyed Sarai staring down at him. "You will not leave us again! You may be out team leader but you're our friend and we will not let you fall for us!"


	32. Chapter 32: The Garthim Master

Chapter 32: The Garthim Master 

Zeren's Dark Crow 

Looking towards the group of four knights, Yami Sukehiro frowned in annoyance at their breaking from battlefield awareness to fraternise. "Focus!" The captain yelled in frustration, as he moved past them and used his katana to block the direction of some on coming flying knives. "There's a strange creature attacking us, that obviously wants to kill us! So if you don't mind, get busy fighting it off!"

His yell brought the young knights back to reality. "Jorvik!" Yami yelled. "Go back and assist Noelle! You both have good use long distance spells, so use them!" Nodding his head at his captain, Jorvik spun around and rushed to aid his fellow black bull newbie.

Meanwhile, flapping his wings in the sky, the creature sneered. "_Contemptible humans..."_ Without any further need of an excuse to attack, Yami sent another slash of dark magic from his katana, straight at the winged demon, only for the thing to deftly fly out of range. _"You are nothing to us! Only as Garthim fodder. Mayhaps I should release the Garthim upon humanity... oh how pleased they'll be!"_

Without fully understanding what that meant, Captain Yami launched himself into the air and managed to slash an arc of dark magic straight across the Skeksis' chest.

"No don't!" Zeren yelled. Alas his warning came too late, as SkekUng simply grinned as he absorbed the dark magic and sent it careening straight back at its caster. A the result sent the Captain flying into a nearby tree. "You could have mentioned that before, _Golden Boy!_" The Captain groaned, forgetting that the boy already had and rolling his eyes. "Fine, very well", he sighed, "if it can absorb and redirect magical attacks then I guess I'll have to push past my limits!"

Jumping into the air, the Captain directed a myriad of sword strikes at the Skeksis, and whilst most were battered away by the creatures metal wings, one strike left a deep gouge in SkekUng's side decreasing his flight ability. "Ahaha! You don't have the air superiority you once did anymore", Yami chuckled jumping forwards to bring his katana down for the killing strike.

However, SkekUng suddenly drew a large glaive from off his back and swung it with such force, that Yami's own forward momentum was repelled resulting in the Captain's strike blocked and then him being thrown backwards.

Seeing his captain hurled backwards into the mass of decapitated dead bodies, formerly scouts of the rebel Duren prince, Thorfinn was overcome with an anger. The Captain was the one who had given him a place in the Black Bulls, and new group of friends, a 'family' to rely on. Drawing his broadsword, the blonde boy turned towards Zeren and Sarai, a plan coming to mind.

"Zeren... cast that ice spell you did back in Temple so this thing can't move. Then we all can strike at it with our weapons, whilst Jorvik and Noelle strike with distance spells".

Casting a dubious eye over towards the irate Captain, whom was pushing himself upright, Zeren looked extremely hesitant to use primal magic in front of anyone else. "Its okay", Thorfinn confided. "Yami may be a Captain but he is loyalty is to the High Mage, and the people of the Pentarchy". Again Zeren's eyes flickered over time the captain but this time appraising him in a new, less suspicious, light. "What about her?" Zeren scowled towards Noelle, "she's obviously a royal. They murdered my parents and siblings, if she realises who I am then I'm sure she'll tell her family about me..."

"Calm down..." Thorfinn responded as several dark magic blasts, fired from Jorvik and Noelle raced overhead and pummelled their ground between them and SkekUng. "Don't even try with that..." Zeren growled, gripping the staff in his hands. "You know what they did to me! And how much I hate them... If they so even much as even try to get to me then I will fight back!"

Looking slightly put out, Thorfinn sighed. "Noelle is not like the rest of the nobles and royals. Her own family, House Silva, hates and bullies her. She is the first royal I've met that agrees with me about the need for Pentarchy reform".

Slowly the look of contempt on Zeren's face disappeared, to be replaced with a reluctant scepticism. "Fine..." Zeren groaned. "If you trust her then I will too". Standing tall with the staff in his hands, Zeren wrote a silvery rune in the air. Atop the staff, within the half crescent shape the floating clock hands began to turn and generate an immense wind around him.

"_Aspiro Frigis!"_

Immediately, the wind that was surrounding him was concentrated in the top of the staff before a series of icy spines erupted from the ground and out of thin air, making SkekUng dodge and weave his way around them.

_"You dare use his power against one of us!"_ SkekUng roared. Smashing his way through a wall of ice, he elongated his talons and attempted to decapitate the boy before him only for two swordsman to get in his way and deliver two very well paced strikes to his gut and back. "Well done kid", Yami uttered, "you two Throfinn. As reckless as ever..." his praise was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream that tore from up his and erupted from his mouth.

"_Humans are weak. You never learn, you never evolve your skills..."_ With wide terrified eyes, Thorfinn and Zeren stood transfixed as the creature stood from it's kneeling position holding in its talons, Captain Yami's severed right arm. The captain himself slumped to the ground in a pool of rapidly increasing blood.

_"You are nothing to us! Playthings that we use as scapegoats... useful idiots against the elves and dragons"._

A sudden spike of water magic shot past Zeren and Sarai, making contact with the skeksis only for the magic to be absorbed into its body. And right before their eyes, as Jorvik and Noelle joined the others, they witnessed that the deep injuries SkekUng had received were healing themselves.

"Who... what are you!" Noelle yelled, pointing her wand towards the thing, as Jorvik and Thorfinn remained by _Golden Boy's_ side. _Golden Girl_, on the other hand, was now standing next to her and instead of wilding her glaive, which was now strapped to her back, Sarai was clutching a blueish-black stone.

Noticing a silvery tornado-y rune in front of Sarai, Noelle was about to ask how she was seemingly using magic without sacrificing a living thing. Yet, her question went unasked, and self answered, as Sarai muttered the spell "_Aspiro_!" A strong gust of wind emanated from the strange sphere and trapped the skeksis inside a tornado. Noelle was further blindsided by the sight of _Golden Boy_ generating lightning from his fingers. "_Fulminis!_" The spell was not something she recognised from her meagre magic control lessons she had had at her family castle.

And so Noelle knew that these two golden dawn knights were obviously different than ordinary dark magic wielding knights, and as she was perceptive Noelle could tell that these two mage knights of the Golden Dawn were obviously using some sort of Primal magic.

_"You wish to know me..."_ the creature snickered, spreading its metal wings and taking flight anew. Looking down towards the silver haired girl, SkekUng grinned at the opportunity to toy with some lowly humans.

_"I am the Garthim Master, SkekUng! I am the one responsible for all the fear... all the negativity humans feel in their own little kingdoms. As long as there is magic, as long as is Xadia exists for us or exploit... you will never know peace of mind!"_

Without wasting another second, the creature launched itself straight at the group of young knights, and the badly injured captain. However, with the rune that she had drawn, Sarai loudly exclaimed: "_Aspiro!_" Another gust of extremely powerful wind shot from the stone in her hands and tore through the tornado that held SkekUng and blasted into the branches of a tall cedar tree. Falling down through the branches, until he hit the ground, it only became noticeable that Sarai's move had damaged one of SkekUng's wings when he tried to fly.

Now thoroughly seething with rage and hatred, and temporarily deprived of flight whilst he healed, he reached again for his own glaive which was blasted off his back by a fiery dark magic spell from Jorvik.

"_Noctu Igne!"_

"We need to get captain Yami to a doctor", Thorfinn spluttered, sprinting forwards and moving the injured Captain back to the safety of the gully. Turing towards Zeren, Jorvik asked "I don't suppose anybody taught you any healing magic, did they?" Shaking his head Zeren like despondently at the ground, "I'm sorry nobody ever taught me that kind of magic. It was said to be..." he trailed off at seeing Noelle's narrowed eyes boring into him.

"What do you mean, type of magic?" She stated, flicking a strand of her silver hair out of her eyes before aiming another water strike at the advancing creature. Immediately, Thorfinn and Jorvik both tried to convince Noelle that now wasn't the time tor questioning someone's power, but their pleas fell on stubborn deaf ears. Narrowing her eyes straight at Golden Boy, she suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu... and before either Zeren or the others could speak, she had answered her own question.

"_Lysander... _You're an Amari, aren't you?"

As if hearing the name of his dead older brother wasn't already maddeningly hurtful and vengeance inducing, hearing Lysander's name spoken by a royal only furthered his anger. Zeren had been trying to cope with, and dispel, his anger for years but now hearing a royal utter his brothers name was too much. Clenching his fists, and biting his lip, Zeren desperately tried to push down his rising ire but alas the royals presence was just too incensing. In the end, so his friends wouldn't see him upset and angry, he spun around and muttered a series of elven words.

"_Lunaris vacuo, aeros pleinus"_.

Clicking his right middle finger and thumb together, Zeren's body was suddenly surrounded by a whirlwind of black feathers. Transforming himself into a black feathered bird, a Crow, he took off into the sky, avoiding Noelle's questions. Opting instead to fight an aerial fight with SkekUng.

"Zeren wait!" Noelle called out trying to get the boys attention. "It's not what you think!" Unfortunately, he was out of earshot and was now flying as a bird being chased by and throwing attacks at the skeksis. "Well done! Oh very well done!" Sarai growled, spinning around and jabbing her finger into Noelle's face. "What the bloody hell were you thinking! How did you think he'd react to hearing the name of his dead brother spoken by one of the families responsible for his families murder!"

To Sarai's surprise Noelle hung her head in shame. "I wasn't trying to get under his skin", she retorted, "I was trying to tell him that I remember meeting his siblings. My own siblings are cruel and abusive towards me. They hate me for living whilst our mother died".

Choking back tears Noelle but her lip, as she took a small drawing from a pocket of her combat dress. As they took in the drawing; Thorfinn, Jorvik and Sarai finally got to see the faces of Zeren's siblings. "Dalia, Andrei, Reina and Lysander...", Noelle whispered, "they always treated like me as if I was one of them. An Amari than like a Silva. I loved them all dearly... they were more like family to me than my real family ever was".

"Then you need tell Zeren that..." Thorfinn uttered breaking the two girls conversation towards him. "Zeren holds an intense hatred towards royals... if you can show him that you loved his family as much as he did, then it might just help to heal his scarred heart".

"And help him trust in the Pentarchy again", Jorvik added.

The four young knights were the suddenly interrupted by a screeching and a whirling, followed by a blood splatter fall from the sky. Thorfinn, Jorvik, Sarai and Noelle all directed their gazes upwards and saw the shadowy form and burning yellows eyes of SkekUng falling from the sky with a deep gouge in the centre of his chest.

And flying around high in the sky, a crow soared, lightning and ice spells generated from it's claws. "Zeren..." Sarai muttered, staring up at the black feathered crow that Zeren had transformed into. His blood red eyes were terrifyingly hypnotic.


	33. Chapter 33: Vengeful Acolytes

Chapter 33: Vengeful Acolytes!

The _Militancy's_ Long Game 

Ten years. _Ten years_ they had been awaiting the boys return, and now that he had finally come back to the human lands; they had learnt that he had joined the Golden Dawn knights squad. So by extension he was propping up the corrupt, fickle and weak rule of the Pentarchy Kings.

The boy was supposed to be their leader, the one that Lord Sion Amari had spoke of... in his dying message to them but now knowing that he, Zeren, was aiding the knight squads, the Militancy was in a bind. The boy was the last Amari, and their loyalty to the Amari's was ironclad but they refused to bow their heads to someone that didn't see the Pentarchy as incorrigibly broken and in need of dissolution. The way he seemed so uninterested in revenge, and influenced by the friends he kept, and the knight squad he joined, infuriated and lead them to devise a means of obtaining a new more worthy leader.

The Militancy's leadership began floating the idea of primogeniture. If Zeren had a child; preferably a son, then the Militancy could switch its loyalty from the father to that son, and instil the child as a true Amari king. One king of a singular united human realm. The only problem was they still hadn't found the right girl whom would be used as a broodmare for Zeren's child, someone loyal to them and could manipulate the foolish boy into bed. Or better yet, someone whom was fanatical and forceful.

Their grand plan couldn't truly be realised without them having an Amari leader, they were after all fanatically devout acolytes and servants of the Amari's. Devotion was all they had left, and to them the Pentarchy was rotten to the core. Deserving of dissolution. In its place, instead of five kingdoms there would be an Amari dynasty. Only the primal magic humans could rule. And the revolution would begin with Duren, already weakened by an internal row over succession, the kingdom was ripe for conquest.

The purge of the Amari's had been extended to the destruction of the family castle, the vaults beneath it and all other buildings on the estate. However, whilst destroying the castle and estate were easily done, the vaults were another thing entirely. The acolytes that made up the Rogues, those who abandoned their liege lords and sided with the Pentarchy, tried to break the magic seals on the vaults but were unable to do so.

Thereby, the secrets within remained locked and safe, beyond the corruption that the Rogues had wanted to levy and use to justify their usefulness towards the kings. And so the Amari vaults were left abandoned, inadvertently allowing the Militancy to secretly reconvene in and around their former masters ancestral lands. Plotting in secret.

Whilst the Militancy had started out as a group hell bent on vengeance and justice for the the murdered Amari's, the group had also begun to draw in people who were generally dissatisfied with the state of the state of the Pentarchy.

Inequality, rampant corruption, greedy and feckless nobles and incompetent royals... they all played a great motivator for the rise in the revolutionary groups sudden influx of new members. Their rise in notoriety was due to the torturing and murdering of nobles for information or just simply revenge, the militancy wanted results.

And whilst many of the newly enlisted dark mages and former knights within the five kingdoms wanted drastic change, not all of them were down with the idea of one United Human Land ruled by one king. Only the former Amari acolytes wanted that dream.

To those that wanted to do away with the Pentarchy, these people supported the creation of a united republic of humanity. As they felt that as well as the royals and nobles, the Amari's were just as culpable, in their own way, to the state of living that the ordinary citizens lived. Yet, these dissatisfied few went along with the Grand Plan due to the promise of a fairer and freer society, but more so because of the fear of the High Council.

The castle of Neodymium was a stout structure on an outcropping betwixt two massive rivers which met and joined together into one enormous river before flowing down through Katolis and Del Bar and out into the tidal estuary by Evenere. Built two hundred years ago back when Duren's relationship with Katolis was anything but good, the castles original purpose had been to block any repel any incisions into its territory. As well as, sinking any of Katolis' navy vessels that tried to attack Duren.

Now, however, due to the peace that existed between the two kingdoms the castle was left empty and forgotten. A perfect base of operations for the Militancy to springboard their Pentarchy revolution from.

The reach of the **Militancy's High Council**, and the power it could exalt over even the most devoted of soldiers of any of the five kingdoms armies was incredible. Which it had been doing, sensitivity and with great aplomb, for years now stealing for itself the loyalty of a small portion of the five kingdoms armies.

The leadership had even managed to gain the favour of two of the Pentachy's six generals, however their reasons for aligning with a dissent revolutionary group were due to ambition rather than a desire for Pentarchy reformation.

Moreover, the High Council had spent such a considerable amount of time and patience cultivating the loyalties of two people within the former court of Duren's late King and Queen, orchestrating a plan that lead to the deaths of both monarchs. By means of a manufactured skirmish lead from Evenere into Duren over disputed territories. The resulting conflict between Evenere and Duren, lead to the deaths of the monarchs of both kingdoms, and stoked succession crisis in Evenere and rival claims within Duren.

Duren was now being fractured by a rival claimant to the true heir to throne: the daughter of the late king and queen, Crown Princess Annika. The rival being her uncle, Prince Harold. The resulting tussle over the crown lead Duren into a full blown civil war, which the Militancy was now using to its advantage.

Evenere in comparison hadn't fallen into civil war but was mired in bureaucracy, caused by the ascent of their former king's youngest brother. Whom was ill prepared for the job, as it had never been considered that the line of succession would need to diverge after the death of the late king.

As well as two of the six generals, the militancy had also approached, in secret, the captain of the Purple Orcas knight squad. Captain Geldre Poizot had an immovable faith in money, and being a knight captain afforded him the power to collect, con and strangle money out of all people he dealt with. Those that asked his squad to carry out mission requests often found themselves extorted and blackmailed into paying higher mission fees.

He was as unscrupulous a man as it got, there was nothing he would not do in the pursuit of wealth, and concealing his transgressions. And his reasoning for joining the revolution was simple. Petty jealousy towards Captain Fuegoleon.

Meanwhile, inside the once opulent great hall, the seven members of the Militancy's High Council sat around a large circular table, discussing the 'project' so far.

"We should have kept a closer eye on the boy", one of the councillors spoke. "It would have prevented him becoming too close to certain powers within the Pentarchy". The speaker was a tall black haired man dressed in long flowing purple robes wearing a top hat, and busy sharpening a large broadsword in his hands. His name was **Nitaky Yoram**, and he was a warrior monk loyal to the Amari family and whom desired a dynastic Amari royal family.

A series of mumbled agreements were heard from the other seven assembled high council members. "The boy was supposed to be our liege lord, the one who would unite the people against this corrupt and degraded Pentarchy". A woman with flowing red hair and dressed in a black combat dress scowled, leaning her elbow on the arm rest of her seat. "**Lady Gloriosa**..." a willowy young blonde haired man tried to interject but found himself overruled by the woman's forceful tone.

"I know your loyalty to the cause is equal to the rest of us in this room Jaune. But we all know that you were, and remain, opposed to the idea of Primogeniture. And indoctrinating the resulting child to be our true leader. A king".

**Jaune Erisot** was the last survivor of the Amari Castle Guard, he wasn't a mage but a skilled assassin. A profession that he dabbled in more than he cared to admit in these times of rebellion. He wasn't about to not let the kings get away with the Amari murders, as well as the lies that had spewed to cover up said murders.

Jaune had signed up to restore Zeren Amari to the place of knowledge and assistance to power that his family had held for generations, not to make the boy the founder of a new royal line. And especially not to decieve the boy into a producing a child that would be taken away from him and indoctrinated into being a king. "He's just a boy", he gritted out before managing to still his annoyance.

"I still say that the he could still side with us if we give him a chance", Jaune stated running a and through his blonde hair. "And it would help us to have him around..."

"Oh Jaune, your so naive and loyal in the old way to the Amari's". Another voice spoke up. Turning his head to his left, Jaune scowled as he took in the mad grin of **Hugo Asahi**. "Heehaw! I think it's better this way", Hugo grinned, "we can be certain that the next Amari grows up to be free of his fathers influence, and be the king to humanity that can someday lead us into Xadia!"

"Well I believe Jaune's words deserve thought", a bearded man with a scar across his face spoke up. **Rahm Kühn** was the former captain of the very ship that had been transporting Zeren from Duren to Katolis on that fateful day eight years ago. It had been Kühn's plan to send Zeren off in a small rowboat out into the wide ocean sparing him from capture by any of the pursuing pentarchy ships.

He had hoped the boy to would land to, and land in Evenere, from where the loyal supporters could find him and raise him. Unfortunately, Zeren ended up in Xadia, and whilst for some of the High Council that was a problem, Kühn had been happy that the boy had found a new happiness there with the elves.

"The boy is still an Amari, and we should treat him with the respect and due loyalty that he deserves, we are still loyalists are we not!" Kühn announced, backing up Jaune. "I suppose we could keep him as an advisor or something", Yoram responded. "And having him, a primal magic mage, around would help his child learn magic better".

A sudden loud bang reverberated around the hall, startling the councillors and making the guards at the doorway and inside the room flinch. Sitting in a large carved oaken chair dressed in a black doublet, brown breeches, boots and long grey cloak and hood was a tall middle aged man holing, in his hands, a long silver staff with an oval shape in the middle of of with a purple stone in its centre.

"You worry too much", the person stated coldly. "The boy is a lost cause. He may be an Amari but he is no longer the boy we needed. The plan of primogeniture stays intact, and soon we will soon have a new Amari to crown king".

The other councillors fell silent at the hooded man's words, bowing their head in deference to him. "**Lord Hiram**", the final councillor spoke. "Are you sure? The boy is a primal magic wielder... he could prove problematic to us". The hooded man simply waved away the concerns of the last councillor. "Everything will be fine **Tyrion**". The cold collected voice of Lord Hiram spoke, "the boy is of little concern. All we need from him is a child. After which, he can be either die or kept as a prisoner if we require anything further from him".

Standing to one side of the round council table were two of the Pentarchy's Six Generals that joined the rebellion for a promise of power in the new Amari kingdom: Sir Devin Malory, a tall muscled duel sword wielding male and dark mage. Also, Sir Oliver Trenton, a white haired middle aged man formerly of the royal household of Neolandia but now despairing of his country and the Pentarchy he chose to side with the rebellion.

And alongside them stood the Captain of the Purple Orcas, Geldre Poizot, who was grinning with great anticipation at being able to soon find new ways to profit from the coming war that would soon engulf the human realm.


	34. Chapter 34: Importance of Allies

Chapter 34: Importance of Allies 

Two weeks later.

Hatred. The one overbearing emotion that had been burned in his heart all those years ago, and was flared up whenever he thought of or was told about the Pentarchy kings. And yet standing in the presence of the High Mage, seeing this man's genuine smile, and hearing the regret in his voice; at not being able to talk the hawkish kings of Katolis and Neolandia out of their planned Amari Purge, had the affect of diminishing his anger.

More so, the mannerisms of this man spoke volumes of his lower noble status, as did his words of creating a fairer and more just Pentarchy, with amended ties to Xadia. This man, _Julius Novachrono_, held the same reformist pro-Xadia ideals that Zeren did and wanted to achieve.

So when Zeren and Sarai retuned to the Golden Dawn squad headquarters, after completing their joint mission with Jorvik and Thorfinn, and recuperating with the Black Bulls, they were surprised to be met at the entranceway by Captain Vangeance and the High Mage.

Sarai had been instantly on edge at meeting the High Mage, worrying about Zeren's safety, but she relaxed when Captain Vangeance told her about Julius being the person who had saved him from familial suffering. As well as giving him the resolve to become a Pentarchy Knight, striving for justice across the five kingdoms and peace with Xadia.

"Julius Novachrono is truly a good man. A reformist and a just man", Vangeance stated. Fondly. "He is the man that will enshrine peace and stability within this unstable era of humanity". Sarai and Zeren both seriously believed, in that moment, their captain's genuine words of trust and loyalty to his friend, the a High Mage. "Oh come now William", Julius guffawed, "I'm sure my successor, whomever they may be will carry on more important things than I have been doing".

For the briefest of moments, Sarai noticed the High Mage glance over at Zeren appraisingly, before continuing his conversation with Captain Vangeance.

"Whomever replaces you", William Vangeance uttered, "will have big shoes to fill. But I'm sure that they will never forget man that convinced the five kingdoms to implement great reforms as as well as abolishing serfdom that had existed".

"And your opposition to the creation of the Six Generals, a decision that gives the royals to much sway into the Pentarchy's military", Sarai piped up, "back in my village, before I joined the knights, many people looked up to you. They would often wished aloud that they wanted you as a king rather than the five royal families".

"Can you please talk about why you asked for us to be here", Zeren interjected, making both Sarai, Vangeance and the high mage stop in their tracks and face the boy following them.

"Oh right... sorry I nearly forgot you were there", Julius smiled as he led the way fitter into the Golden Dawn headquarters. They soon found themselves walking along a cloister that surrounded a large grass and flower garden, and in the middle of the garden was a tall tree. Walking out into the garden, Sarai and Zeren moved towards the base of tall tree and sat down on a bench, Captain Vangeacne, conjured out of the earth.

"Both of you..." William spoke, removing his mask and revealing his facial birth marks. "I would like to praise you for completing your mission alongside the Black Bulls, and for standing your ground against the creature that attacked you". It was then that Julius spoke up. "It is for this reason why we personally came to meet you on returning here. We wish to ascertain who and what exactly this creature was. And why it seemed to target you in particular Zeren".

Clicking his forefinger and thumb, Julius brought forth the familiar black metal staff with the C shaped apex with the floating clock hands at its centre, appear in his hands. "I have thoroughly examined this staff, and had my student mages try and research it but alas we have found nothing about either the staff or who this _Baldemnic_ person is". Stretching out his arm, holding the staff to the boy, Julius couldn't help but notice a flicker of unease pass across Zeren's face. It was almost as if the staff terrified him, or was it due to something happening between him and the creature.

Sarai intertwined her left hand with Zeren's right hand, trying to reduce his anxiety, which was clearly evident due to being offered the staff again. "It's okay", she whispered to him, placing a kiss to his cheek. "Whatever the creature said, whatever the staff does... remember that me, Thorfinn, Jorvik, Gyda, Amaya and Noelle. We all have your back". Looking to his right, Zeren saw the trust and determination shining in Sarai's. As brightly as the moment he had seen her coming back to his aid against SkekUng. "Thank you... Sarai", he murmured, blushing.

Smiling, and holding his nerves at bay, he reached out and took the staff from the high mage's hand. "Sir Julius... I promise to find out as much as I can about Baldemnic, and to use this staff to the benefit of humanity. As well as maintaining the peaceful relationship with Xadia..."

" And, hopefully, one day humans and elves can freely move between east and west, with an open border", Vangeance spoke, "that is something you still want. Is it not, Zeren?"

"Yes Captain William", the boy replied seriously. "I would like humans and elves to be free from the animosity of their shared past. That is my ultimate goal".

"A noble spirit", Julius Novachrono spoke, "so like your parents. They too wanted peace with Xadia but unfortunately... the kings offed them before their dream could be made". Once again Sarai immediately made to stand in between Zeren and the high mage, questioning Julius's motives, only for the high mage to simply bow his head to Zeren and apologise.

"I'm sorry... Zeren. I wasn't able to save your parents and siblings, the kings knew I was an Amari supporter but due to my friendship with Katolis's crown prince, I was sent away so that couldn't interfere with the purge". Dropping to his knees, Julius Novachrono prostrated himself to the surviving Amari. "I will do everything in my power to support and protect you, as will Katolis's crown prince".

As shocked as William was, to see his friend and mentor prostrate himself in apology to the surviving Amari, Zeren was dumbfounded. Here was a person, who had the ear of the ruling five families; who held power and influence but was privately stating to him that he wanted the return of the Amari name amongst the Pentarchy.

"I-I-didn't know that there were any other supporters of my family still alive..." Zeren stammered. Blushing in embarrassment, the boy hurriedly motioned for the High Mage to stand up so that he could save face should anyone else of the Golden Dawn see the Captain, High Mage and two new knights in a conversation away form prying eyes.

Moreover, Zeren still wanted to hear more about Sir Julius's magic and his promise of protecting him against the Pentarchy, should any of the kings discover him. "So..." Sarai interjected, a frown adorning her face. "Don't take this the wrong way but... you really don't seem particularly strong, and that eve man if you really are the High Mage". Noticing the drooped expression on Captain William's face, Zeren tried to still his friend. "Sarai..." he murmured. "It's ok", Julius responded, "it's clear to me and William that your friend cares deeply about you, so I do understand her suspiciousness".

Loosening her frown, Sarai hid her now blushing face behind her red scarf and twirled her spear in her hand to distract herself from further embarrassment. "I know you're worried Sarai", Captain Vangeance spoke, "but Julius here is a man of immense conviction and truth". Nodding her head, she returned to her seat beside Zeren. "It's going to be alright", her friend whispered to her. "We both already know and trust Captain Vangeance..." Suddenly feeling Sarai's hand creep into his, Zeren's whisper stilled, as heat flushed in his face. '_Were holding hands..._' and in that moment all he could think about was how right they seemed together.

After the captain and high mage had left the central garden a area, leaving the two young knights together sitting beneath the tall oak tree, a look of profound unease crept across Julius's face. "What is it?" William asked, affixing his mask back in place. "Are you having doubts towards Zeren taking your place as High Mage someday?" Smiling, the high mage simply waved his friends concerns away.

"No. Zeren is the right person to replace me when the time comes... but what concerns me are the unknown creatures, Skeksis, that Zeren told us of. We know nothing about them or why they have pitted humans against Xadia... and then to add on to my worries there is the report from Sarai stating that the Duren's rebel prince has a spy within Princess Annika's court. And attempted to take the secrets of the Arcane Temple for himself".

"We must be diligent and proceed with extra care, if we are to ensure Princess Annika's place as queen of Duren. She is a reformer... and one who vehemently disagreed with the Rogues cannibalism of the Amari's magic into dark magic artefacts". William nodded his head in agreement, knowing full well that the Pentarchy needed to have its primal magic family be seen once more as the benefit that it always had been. "We should send troops to the Princess to aid her against her uncle", he propositioned, "Princess Annika must take the throne".

With a look of serene displeasure in his face, Julius sighed, "I will petition the kings at the upcoming Pentarchy summit, in Evenere, to send three knight squads and two Generals to put a swift end to Duren's civil war. I do hate these conferences... they are little more than pandering to the whims of the high nobility. Nothing truly ever gets changed".

"You will succeed in making them see sense in backing your plan. Otherwise, the war that Prince Harold started in Duren may get traction in the other kingdoms".

Meanwhile, sitting beneath the oak tree, content with Sarai beside him, Zeren suddenly remembered the words Noelle had tried to speak to him. '_Lysander... you're an Amari'_. Although it still pained him to think about his murdered parents and siblings, knowing that there was someone else in the world who seemed to actually love his family just as much as he did, was a comfort.

And remembering what Thorfinn and Jorvik had said about Noelle's family despising her, made him feel ashamed that he had allowed himself to be consumed by anger I the moment that she had tried to reach out to him. But instead he had transformed into his crow form and flown away before hearing her out.

Opting to fight Skekung rather than admit that a royal was just as alone as he was.

"Sarai..." he murmured, making her lift her head from his shoulder and look up at him. "Yes", she replied, her hand playing with his hair done into a side braid. "I want to go speak to Noelle... she said that she knew my siblings", he trailed off when Sarai crushed her body into him with a tight embrace.

"I'm proud of you", she stated, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You are letting go of you pain and anger, choosing instead to talk to others". Running a hand across her face, Zeren felt a spark of electricity race through his brain.

"I'm glad I met you... I would never have thought that I'd be this happy after returning to the human realm".


	35. Chapter 35: The Disavowed Daughter

Chapter 35: The Disavowed Daughter 

Pre-Conference Drama

Looking back at her life, Noelle hated her families utter devotion to their rank of High Nobility, being cousins to the ruling royal family of Katolis, brought her no absolutely no joy. House Silva, alongside House Vermillion, were sole two high noble families that held rank in politics and the military: the Silver Eagles and the Crimson Lion knight squads, were both founded by their ancestors and continued it be lead by their descendants.

Whilst the citizenry saw the squads as powerful bulwarks to Xadian aggression, Noelle was acutely aware of her families vaingloriousness and five royal families indifference to those outside their own bloodlines.

Moreover the systemic problem of sidelining the perfectly able soldiers, whom happened to be ordinary citizens, from her few and limited observations, could so easily be silver eagles due to their non magical skills were repeatedly cast down in favour of nobles simply because of their higher pedigree.

There had been a time where Noelle had really wanted to join her families knight squad but her father, brothers and sister all killed that idea as soon as they saw her lacklustre magic skills. As a result, she was deemed a '_royal failure_', a '_screwup_'. And then at age thirteen, she was disavowed by her father and told that she would be joining the Black Bulls.

As demoralising and heart aching as that had been, it wasn't even the worst thing they had done to her without getting to the really heartbreaking things they used to scream at her.

Yet, within the Black Bulls, she had found true friends whom she could count on whenever she needed them. A pseudo family of sorts, but one that she was truly grateful for, more so she got the chance to meet and befriend Sarai. A girl that she could tell, from just one look into her eyes, was going to be super important one day. The hurt inflicted by her family was now slowly becoming a distant memory, replaced by the positive memories she had of Lady Ulrica and her children and now the friends she had made in the Black Bulls.

Moreover, she was still hoping to get a chance to talk to Zeren, and be the friend that their mothers had wanted them to be.

Her mother, Acier had been a prodigy of magic. Born into a middle ranked noble family she had quickly attracted the attention of the then High Mage, Claude Devant. Devant was an Amari acolyte, who was a childhood friend of Lord Teton Amari, the father of the future Lord Sion. During her training with Devant, Acier met and befriended a kind and talented woman named Ulrica Gandini, who was also a daughter of a middle ranked noble, and from then on the two women became inseparable best friends.

Later they would become members of the same knights squad, the Silver Eagles, before marrying into families of prominence.

**Lady Acier Silva** and **Lady Ulrica Amari** became the two most powerful female knights, the Pentarchy would ever see. The '_Steel Princess_' and the '_Valkyrie_' entranced and captivated the citizenry to the point of worship. A feat that would only be matched years later by General Misano Esdeath, but she was known of by fear; by a reputation of being bloodthirsty and ruthless in battle.

However when Acier died in childbirth, Urica was distraught for it had been their wish for their youngest children to become great friends. The citizens of five kingdoms, most notably in Katolis, mourned for four straight days in thanks for Lady Acier's goodwill, charitably nature and her resolve to help anyone who asked for it. A statue of her was erected in Katolis's Valley of Heroes, an honour usually reserved for Kings and High Mages.

Initially, unbeknownst, to Ulrica, though she did find out later, the Silva family were so beside themselves with grief at Acier's death that they began rejecting the newborn girl and refusing to associate the girl with being a true born daughter of House Silva. Moreover, Ulrica leant, from one of Acier's handmaidens that growing up, Noelle was beaten by her father and blamed and bullied by her siblings for their mothers death.

It was at this point that Ulrica had had enough, and began to visit the Silva residence with her own children to see her late friends family, and to cheer up Noelle with stories of her brave heroic mother. To be able to raise the girls spirits and to have her experience as much positivity as possible, and to Ulrica's credit, whenever she visited, Noelle always had great memories of godmother and her children.

"Never regret being born, Noelle", Ulrica had told the youngest Silva daughter. "You're mother loved you, and she wouldn't ever want you to think that way".

—

Those words stuck with her ever since, and were the driving principle of her wanting to prove to her own family that she was her own person, and she would outshine them. So when Noelle found herself part of Captain Yami's tag alongs to the pentarchy conference alongside: Thorfinn, Jorvik and Finral, she drifted herself back to her godmothers words for strength, against the disdainful looks her siblings were throwing at her.

"You okay Noelle?" Thorfinn asked, placing himself in between her siblings line of sight, and gently ushering her away. Looking up at her squad mate, and friend, Noelle found herself glad that both he and Jorvik were here with her. Finral was to, but he was too busy currently shamelessly flirting with a tall girl from the Blue Rose knights.

"I..." she stuttered, "I'm fine. I just didn't expect them to be here". Wanting to getaway from from her hateful siblings, she followed Thorfinn back to where Jorvik was now keeping Finral under close observation.

Just as Noelle was about to ask her Captain when the conference would begin, she saw the doors at the end of the throne room swing open revealing a very familiar person.

"Mimosa...?" She murmured, staring at the golden haired girl walking alongside Sarai and Zeren. Suddenly curious to know why her cousin was here, Noelle tried to catch her gaze. Unfortunately, Mimosa and the other two golden dawn knights were immediately met by two other girls: '_Amaya and Gyda_', she whispered, recalling the two other girls from the knight entrance exams.

Seeing her chance at hopefully talking to Zeren, she tried to move forwards but was stopped by Captain Yami. "Give them some space for now... '_golden boy'_ and '_golden girl_' look like they need it".

Looking from her Captain to the two knights in the distance, Noelle saw that he was right. Both Sarai and Zeren seemed tired and uncomfortable with the number of high ranking knights and nobles around. "Okay..." she responded. "I'll let them have time to speak with Gyda and Amaya".

—-

'_Amaya_!' Sarai signed before finding herself being smothered by her sisters embrace. '_What the bloody hell were your thinking off_!' Amaya responded, after being dragged back by Gyda. '_I knew you were reckless but I didn't think you'd rich head long into a fight with an unknown creature that was impervious to magic!_'

Stomping her foot on the ground, and with red tear filled eyes, Amaya was looked catatonically worried and annoyed by the scale of her sisters actions to save Zeren.

"_I'm sorry, sis..._" Amaya spoke and signed. "_I'm sorry to have worried you so much..._" She was stopped by Gyda who moved forwards and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We all may be in different knight squads: Golden Dawn, Blue Rose, Coral Peacocks and the Black Bulls... but we are all friends! And none of us are allowed to die before we have seen the world around us".

With a renewed grin on her face, Amaya slung her arm around Gyda's shoulders nodding in agreement whilst trying to hide her blushing face.

Seeing a chance to get back at her sisters teasing of her and Zeren, Sarai wiggled her eyebrows. '_Someone seems happy..._' she signed, smirking. The result was both Amaya and Gyda both furiously blushing and trying to distance themselves but as neither of them really wanted to do so, they remained next to one another.

Narrowing her eyes, Amaya tried to glare petulantly at her sister, although she was foiled by Gyda's cute giggling. "I guess if you're like this then we don't need to hide", the brunette girl spoke as she wrapt her arms around Amaya and pressed a kiss to her lips. "_I love you_", she signed, resulting in Amaya returning the kiss with equal fervour.

Just as they began to follow Mimosa towards their assembled captains, a raucous caught their attention. Turning around they were all horrified by the sight of a silver haired young man upend a goblet of wine over Noelle's head.

"You are a failure, you have no right to stand in this room. Leave! Now!"

Tears threatened to spill down Noelle's face as she stared at the floor, her arms hanging limply at her sides, as wine dripped from her hair. The eyes of the room were all now upon her, humiliation had always been Solid's way of tormenting her. And this was just the sort of thing place that he liked to use against her.

Another familiar person entered her periphery, only this time she suddenly felt a heavy slap across her face causing her to tumble to the ground.

"You were disavowed and banished from House Silva..." a silver haired woman snarled pointing her finger at her. "And yet, you have the audacity to show up, why couldn't it have been you that died instead of our mother!"

"Solid... Nebra..." It was all Noelle could do to not break down in tears in front of her tormenting siblings. "Hey!" A voice yelled out, "leave Noelle alone! As her family you're supposed to protect, not abuse her!"

As she looked up, through her mussed up sodden hair, she saw the outlines of Thorfinn and Jorvik standing before her with their sword drawn and dark magic at their fingertips. "Please don't..." she pleaded. "Don't get involved... they'll hurt you too".

"We won't stand by and watch a friend and squad mate be abused and bullied by her so-called family", both boys proudly announced. Seeing the genuine smiles on their faces made the sorrow and pain in her heart fade slightly, but then she saw the widened grin on Solid's face. And she knew that he was about to inflict pain.

"**_Magia Tenebrosa Aqua!_**" Solid's voice was practically dripping with sadistic joy, as he watched a mass of writhing black tentacles shoot towards the two boys and the 'pitiful whelp'.

Closing her eyes, she braved herself for the inevitable screams of pain and the laughter that Solid would surely indulge in. However, Noelle suddenly heard a loud scream tear through the room followed by more screams of horror.

Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked several time to make sure that what what was ahead of her was correct.

"Noelle!" She heard Mimosa and Sarai yell out as they rushed towards her and wrapped their arms around her. Yet, her eyes were still locked on the huge block of ice that Solid was suddenly encased in. And in front of that, standing before Thorfinn and Jorvik, was Zeren holding aloft that strange black staff that appeared to have clock hands moving at its apex.

With one breath, and simultaneously writing a rune in the air, Zeren angrily spoke the spell that Thorfinn had told the squad about. "_Aspiro Frigis!_" Another just of icy wind raced forwards and encased Nebra. And as Noelle watched in awe, she could heard shocked gasps emanating all around her. Fear was building, and it was toward Zeren.

"Thats... primal magic!" She heard her eldest brother Nozel mutter, his eyes wide at having seen Solid and Nebra encased in ice. Turning his gaze upon the boy with the staff, the Captain of the Silver Eagles was suddenly struck by a memory of the girl he loved. And had tried to save all those years ago.

"_Dalia..._"


	36. Chapter 36: Outed!

Chapter 36: Outed! 

The Bloodline Lives

"Grab him!" Yelled the voice of King Relling, the ruler of Evenere, who had just entered the throne room accompanied by the king of Neolandia and the Queen of Del Bar. "Protect their majesties!" A heavily armoured woman spoke, hurrying forwards; a simple rapier gripped in her left hand.

"Make way for the '_White Wolf_', General Esdeath!" Soldiers yelled following the white haired tall woman. "That boy has assaulted a high noble from House Silva", King Relling yelled but he was instantly cut off by a sudden bolt of red lightning streaking past his ear and striking Neolandia's king directly in the chest, propelling him backwards into the wall just outside the open doors.

With a sickening crack everyone in the room flinched knowing full well that the hard impact had just broken the kings back, meaning that Neolandia's king would no doubt be forced to abdicate, due to his injuries, his countries throne in favour of his eldest son.

The wide frightened eyes of the rooms occupants solely focused on the boy before them, whose actions moments ago had been; depending whose viewpoint you trusted, virtuous. Defending Noelle from her hateful abusive siblings, had certainly demanded remonstration. Yet, no one was willing to stand against House Silva and protect the youngest daughter. No one but the boy before them, who everyone could clearly see was a user of primal magic.

Striking high nobility, who happened to cousins of Katolis's royal family, would have demanded a punishment of immediate expulsion from the Golden Dawn squad. Which Captain Vangeance could appeal against, but directly striking a ruling monarch was punishable by death. And so the already when the rooms stunned occupants saw the look of unbridled hatred and rage within the boy's eyes, they were filled with a sense of sheer terror.

"_Fulgur Sanguine!_"

—-

As soon as he had seen Neolandia's King; Otar Ren, the words had left his mouth before he had even registered his immediate rage. Zeren gripped the staff with one hand so tightly, his hand turned white. The clock hands floating in air in the middle of the staff's apex crescent were spinning wildly. Pointing his outstretched right index and middle fingers straight at the second king, Zeren unleashed a spell taught to him by the Arch Mage of Astoria: the startouch elf, Sundari. A combination of earth and sky magic, '_Fulgur Sanguine_' literally meant '_Blood Lightning_'.

The spell could tear through any any amount of armoured protection, no matter how strong or durable, and penetrate the living creature beneath. And in this case, the target of Zeren's rage and hatred, was one of the two men responsible for the deception that lead his families murder. King Otar Ren. The other man was currently en route to Evenere, King Svengauld of Katolis.

"Stand down, boy! You will surrender your staff and yourself to the immediate custody of General Esdeath!" The soldiers yelled, only for Sarai, backed up by Thorfinn, Jorvik and Noelle to race forwards and stand in between Zeren and the soldiers. "Get. Back!" Sarai growled, gripping her spear tight in her hands, twisting it slightly to better perform an attack if she needed to.

"I won't let you touch him!" Beside her, she saw Jorvik drawing a dark magic rune in the air. The one she recognised for '_tenebrous praesidium_'. Thorfinn too had narrowed his eyes, and was glaring at the soldiers before them. It was the same look she had seen him wear when they were attacked by giants spiders at the Arcane Temple.

And then there was Noelle. Standing tall and proud with arms outstretched at her sides, her silver hair tied into twin braids behind her back, and using her water magic to create '_water bullets_' around them. Watching the water magic girl, Sarai couldn't help but see how Noelle looked far more regal than the real kings and queens did.

"Hey Noelle", Thorfinn muttered, "don't exhaust yourself". Sarai couldn't help but notice a sight blush spread across the Silva girls face, as she and Thorfinn met each others gaze. "Shut up! I know what I'm doing!" Noelle rebutted, making both Sarai and Jorvik roll their eyes at the incredible inopportune time for their friends flirting.

Suddenly, several purple tendrils of dark magic shot forth and grappled Thorfinn to the ground. "You're impeding me in my duties", a sultry voice spoke. Looking up from where he was laying, Thorfinn saw the tall white haired General walk forwards both her hands wreathed with dark magic. "I won't let you harm my friend-ahhh! A sudden flickering shadowy spear, like it was made out of smoke, embedded itself in his shoulder.

"Oh I'm sorry..." the General grinned, "I didn't catch that". Before he could defend himself, Thorfinn was under an intense barrage of strikes from the rapier in Esdeath's hand.

Fear, flickered across the boys eyes as he took in the incredibly sadistic smirk on the woman's face but then he found himself yanked backward by a series of green vines that Zeren conjured to save him. Pulling himself upright, he frowned at his friend. "You really put the boot in it now mate", he uttered, "but as I said to you before. I won't let them take you".

—-

A solemnity suddenly came over Zeren as he looked towards Thorfinn, Jorvik, Sarai and Noelle. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to get you involved in my messed up life... but that man killed my family!" Tears slipped down Zeren's face as he dropped to his knees, and clung onto the staff in his hands.

"You're our friend", Sarai spoke standing in front of him, and holding her spear towards the soldiers. "We're here for each other".

"I know I'm new to the group of friends", Noelle whispered into his ear, "but your family were more of a family to me than mine ever was. My mother and your mother were best friends... who coincidentally happen to be our respective godmothers".

"Wait... what?" Before he could reply the white haired armour clad woman moved forwards with such speed and dexterity that she almost seemed like ethereal, but then her sadism reappeared and broke that thought.

"If I cant bring you in... then I'll take you out!" With nothing but a mad grin on her face, General Esdeath's words struck terror into the hearts of Thorfinn and Noelle. Striding forwards, as her soldiers backed up, letting their commander move past, the six teenage knights: Thorfinn, Jorvik, Zeren, Sarai, Mimosa and Noelle stood their ground in the face of the overwhelming force of the general; known as the '_White Wolf_'.

However, just as General Esdeath was about to strike again two additional people raced forwards and blocked her path. "Amaya... Gyda..." Zeren murmured. "Please— please, no one else... no one else needs to get in trouble because of me..."

"Exactly", Esdeath grinned. "So hand over the boy and the staff, and the rest of you can go free". Narrowing their eyes, the friends grouped around Zeren and prepared their weapons. "We already told you!" Sarai gritted out. "You're not touching him!"

"So be it!"

—-

However, just as the general had begun her dark magic spell, three people came forward and booked the attack. "You will not harm them", Nozel Silva stated, his mercury magic holding Esdeath in place. "The boy may have attacked a king but it is not for you to decide his fate. As a knight of the Pentarchy his punishment is for his Captain and the High Mage to decide", Charlotte Roselei added.

"You tell her, Prickly Princess". The dulcet tone of Yami Sukehiro uttered moving towards, sporting a prosthetic metal arm, and holding his katana at the general. "I never liked that the Pentarchy created the Generals in the first place, and now finding out that you lot can get away with being judge-jury and executioner all in one really pisses me off!"

"General Esdeath!" a calm but stern voice called out. Turning around, the whole room was met by the youthful Crown Prince of Katolis, Harrow. "The Conference is about to start, and the other monarchs want to get started. King Otar Ren has been taken to the medical ward, his son Prince Ollie shall take his seat in the meeting in the meantime". Walking forwards, despite the soldiers attempts at stating how dangerous the boy was, Zeren was again struck by how genuinely kind an honest Katolis's heir was.

'_Just like at the Royal Commission..._' He reminded himself.

—-

Kneeling down before the tearful teenage boy, the young Crown Prince placed a comforting hand on his shoulder whilst noticing, out of the corner of his eyes, the boys friends all suddenly looking curious. "You have no reason to be sorry Zeren", Harrow uttered. "Katolis and Neolandia betrayed and murdered the Amari family". Bowing his head down on the stone floor, in front of the assembled nobles, three knight captains and the general... Harrow apologised for the crime tag ha father had committed.

"Please, please forgive the Pentarchy for its petty jealousy towards your family. I know it's a tall ask but I never wanted to be a part of my fathers scheme... and neither did Prince Ollie of Neolandia. This conference, here today is nothing short of me and him taking power from our fathers, and leading our kingdoms away from the direction that they were leading".

Pulling the boy to his feet, Harrow placed a hand on his shoulder. "I understand if you'll need time to properly trust me, and my actions, but I refuse to let the past dictate how I rule my kingdom into the future. Together with the High Mage's help, me and Prince Ollie shall remake the Pentarchy into a new fairer realm of humans".

With a look of complete shock on his face, Zeren allowed himself to be pulled upright. He hadn't yet comprehended the enormity of what had just happened... Three captains, and Katolis's heir had defended him and his friends against General Esdeath. And by extension the a death sentence for assaulting a king.

Taking a deep breath as he looked at the smile of the older teenager, Crown Prince Harrow, Zeren could tell that the heir to Katolis meant ever word that he spoken, and that he was truly remorseful. "I'll try..." Zeren answered bowing his head to the soon to be King.

"Your grace".


	37. Chapter 37: Dethroned Kings

Chapter 37: Dethroned Kings

Reforged Sibling Ties

"How dare you!" King Svengauld screamed as soldiers of Katolis surrounded him in the Conference room. Bewildered by the sight of a reigning monarch being accosted by his own royal guards, the monarchs of Del Bar and Evenere attempted to use their own soldiers to protect the Katolis monarch.

"I am your king..." Svengauld yelled. "You will all face treason for your insubordination!" He was then interrupted by the calm and collected voice of his son, Harrow walking into the room. Whom, alongside walked a young knight in Golden Dawn armour carrying a strange black staff.

And then it hit him... the boy was familiar. It was the boy that had been brought before him months ago by General Aurelius about being turned over to humanity by elves. The brown hair and mismatched violet and green eyes... it was him for sure. "You!" The king growled pointing towards Zeren.

"Why are _you_ here?"

"You were the King, father", Harrow interjected, "but ever since you and King Otar Ren, forced the other monarchs to deceive and murder humanities only true powerhouse against Xadia. I have learnt that you and Neolandia are trying to lead an invasion and conquest of Xadia". Stopping, right in front of his father, the Crown Prince scowled. "You were a good king once... but you let yourself be poisoned by ambition. And so with a heavy heart I declare your rule over, farther, and my rule to begin immediately".

With an irate and disdainful growl, Svengauld drew a dagger and launched himself forwards at his son. "You're no son of mine, you damn dirty traitor!"

—

From beside, Zeren made to draw a lightning rune and defend the older boy whom he had just pledged service to, when he saw Harrow raise a hand. Stopping him. Watching in confusion, wondering why the prince wasn't defending himself, Zeren was blindsided by the way Harrow deftly stepped aside grabbed his fathers shoulders, and slammed him down to the ground.

"Your reign is up father. Surrender yourself now, and you may keep whatever honour you have left". Releasing the dagger from his grasp, the former king was restrained in irons before being pulled to his feet by Katolis royal guards and marched out of Eveneres palace straight down into the stockaded public gaol.

"Prince Harrow!" King Relling of Evenere spluttered aghast at what had just occurred before him. "You depose your father, refuse justice to be served for that boy's crimes and now you expect us all to be cordial! I'm leaving..."

"Very well", Harrow replied curtly. "Leave if wish, but know that the Pentarchy will not stop from changing. You walking away from conference will show to your people that you are selfish and petty". Harrow walked towards, and sat upon, one of the stone thrones in the meeting room before gesturing for Zeren to join him. "I'll stay..." King Relling murmured retaking his seat and watching as the boy with the staff walked over to Prince Harrow. Disdainfully and fearful, Relling eyed the boy, before he suddenly widened his eyes in shock as the boy knelt down before the new king of Katolis.

"My fellow monarchs..." However , before Harrow could continue he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps entering the domed meeting hall, turning his head slightly; the new king of Katolis met the eyes of Crown Prince Ollie of Neolandia. Standing up from his stone chair, Harrow moved forwards and embraced his friend. "Ollie. I take it your have succeeded?" Nodding his head, the fellow prince removed a golden crown from inside his cloak and placed it upon his head.

"My father now resides in the medical ward, paralysed, removed from power and without any authority", Prince Ollie replied. "Now we can now bring about the reforms that Lord Sion, Lady Ulrica and Lady Acier all wanted for the Pentarchy. But first we, the ruling families must repent for our complicity and abetting of the crime of deceiving and murdering the Amari Family".

The other two monarchs had to do was look between Harrow and Ollie, and they knew that they were outplayed. Moreover, with Duren currently in the midst of a civil war and its riyal line unsure, the King of Evenere and the Queen of Del Bar sat back down. "Very well", King Relling sighed. "The direction of the Pentarchy will change, not that I will miss where Svengauld and Otar Ren we're planning to take us. Damned warmongers".

Nodding her head, Queen Sasandra of Del Bar removed a ring from her finger and tossed it down towards Harrow, who caught it. "This was taken from the woman known as the _Valkyrie_, Lady Ulrica Amari by King Svengauld after she was killed", the queen stated.

"The ring should be returned to the boy... he is the surviver is he not, that would explain why you didn't punish him for striking a King. Even if he did deserve it". Harrow chuckled softly before he turned around and handed the ring: a silver and gold band engraved with the words '_Lumen Histoire_', back to Zeren.

—

Tears glistened in his eyes as he laid eyes upon the ring, that he remembered had been passed down through his family since the day humans had been driven out of Xadia. And now, after weight years of being possessed by a traitor the ring was back into Amari hands. Feeling arms wrap around him and hands on his shoulders, Zeren looked up to see Sarai kneeling before him, her face buried in his chest. Whilst standing either side of him were Thorfinn and Jorvik, and next to them were Noelle, Mimosa, Amaya and Gyda. All of them looking calm but exhausted.

All of a sudden, Zeren found himself on the receiving end of many scolds and bemoaned sighs from his friends. "You're too hot blooded, you know that" Jorvik muttered, before Thorfinn moved forwards and slapped his former team leader across the face. "Don't ever do something like that again! Do you know how frickin' worried were!"

Meanwhile, Gyda and Amaya immediately came forwards and began prying Sarai off Zeren, so that he could stand up and pick up his staff.

'_I bet his hot bloodedness could be meaningful in the bedroom_', Amaya signed, nudging her sister as whilst Gyda wiggled her eyebrows and smirked.

'_Amaya! How-where-I don't know where to begin with that_', Sarai frantically signed, furiously blushing. "Oh come on", Gyda whispered, grinningly. "I bet you've thought about it. Zeren is cute after all".

"S-s-shut up!" Sarai babbled, pulling her red scarf over her mouth and nose to hide her enflamed face. '_But you do love him..._' her sister and her sisters girlfriend signed. '_Don't lie. I can tell!_'

Ever so slightly she looked up and over towards Zeren who, as it turned out, was still being berated by Thorfinn and Noelle. Smiling to herself, and feeling her heart flutter, Sarai couldn't help but imagine what her and Zeren's child would look like. '_Dark haired with ether green, blue or violet eyes_', she mused to herself. '_Our child..._' She mused before instantly cutting off from that frame of thought... she and Zeren were only sixteen. But still, the thought about their child warmed her heart.

—

"Zeren..." Noelle began. "Wait Noelle", the boy interjected, "I'm sorry for running away when you just wanted to talk". Smiling, the silver haired girl hugged the Amari boy, "I hope we can be friends... After all, our mothers were best friends and our respective godmothers". Zeren's eyes widened at that information. "Wait... what?"

"It's true", a deep voice spoke. Turning around, the boy and girl saw Captain Nozel walk forwards flanked by the freed Solid and Nebra. Instinctively, Thorfinn moved forwards and offset himself slightly from Noelle, just in case her siblings reverted back to cruelty.

"Our mother, Acier Silva, and Ulrica Amari were best friends", Nozel reiterated. "They trained under the former High Mage and then joined the same knight squad before naming each other as godmothers to their youngest children. You two". The captain pointed at Zeren and Noelle, then taking a small portrait from an inner pocket of his cloak, Nozel handed it towards them.

Staring at the painting of their mothers, the two knights broke down in tears. "I'm sorry..." Nozel suddenly uttered, moving forwards and dropping to his knees. "I'm so sorry for everything that we have done to you... Noelle. Your magic may not be the strongest right now, but you have a strong fortitude and the inner strength to be a mage". From his spot kneeling position, the Captain of the Silver Eagles lowered his head to the ground. Shocking his siblings behind him and the Pentarchy monarchs into stunned silence.

With tears in her eyes, Noelle walked forwards and knelt down opposite her eldest brother before reaching out and taking his hand in hers. "Nozel... I-I-" she stuttered before finding her some inner strength. "All I ever wanted was for my family to love me... but father treats my like I'm a mistake. And my own siblings resent the fact that I'm even alive..."

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw Thorfinn grinning and giving her a thumbs up, which made her face heat up. Forcing herself to calm down, she leant forwards and threw her arms around her brother. "I know I should be angry for how you treated me..." she wept. "But you're still my family, and I will always love you!"

—

Watching the emotional moment, Solid and Nebra both looked uneasy... as if they were conflicted by following their brothers example but also not ready to move on from their mothers death. Yet, ever so slowly the two middle siblings made their way forwards knelt down, apologised and accepted Noelle. "Whatever father says..." Nozel stated. "We'll protect you, like we always should have".

Looking over at her friends, Noelle found them all grinning. "Shut up all of you!" She pre-emotively yelped not wanting to be embarrassed by their gushing about such a beautiful display of reforged sibling bond. As she stood up and was immediately embraced by an ecstatic Mimosa and an overjoyed Thorfinn, who were happy for her new standing with her siblings. She even saw her cousin, the soon to be King of Katolis, smile at her. "Never forget the friends you have, Noelle. They'll always help you out".

Smiling as she curtsied, showing deference to Harrow she noticed Zeren place his mother's ring onto Sarai's index finger. An action that had been unnoticed by the others, which Noelle couldn't help but point them out. Resulting in Zeren and Sarai blushing, the stunned gapes of Jorvik and Mimosa and the smirking of Amaya, Gyda and Thorfinn.

However, before anyone could congratulate them, the sound of heavy footsteps were heard running toward the conference hall. As soon as the doors were thrown open, all eyes were on the bedraggled soldier wearing the colours of Duren. But instead of immaculate armour the soldier was covered mud and blood.

"Your majesties!" The soldier wheezed, dropping to his knees. "I bring dire news! Duren... Duren has fallen!"


	38. Chapter 38: Highjacked Kingdom

Chapter 38: Highjacked Kingdom

Attacked Conference!

The immediate reaction from the gathered monarchs was one of disbelief, followed by worry before finally settling into despair. Captains Yami, Nozel and Charlotte all frowned, deeply concerned, before looking to the one monarch that they all had faith in. Crown Prince Harrow.

"How did this happen!" King Relling roared, pacing in front of the group. "Princess Annika's forces far outnumber her uncles..." He trailed off as he ran a hand through his dark red hair. "This is a disaster! If Prince Harold is king... then he'll no doubt target Evenere next. My kingdom controls land, that Duren coverts!" Sighing, the king of Evenere walked back towards his chair and sat down, with head in his hands. "I guess we're going to have intervene to guarantee the Princess her throne..."

Looking up, King Relling directed his gaze towards General Esdeath. "General... would you be willing to join Evenere, with your army, to defeat Prince Harold..."He was interrupted by the raised hand of Crown Prince Ollie of Neolandia who stood up from his stone chair and walked towards the terrified soldier.

Kneeling down before him, Prince Ollie signalled for a servant to bring over a water skin for the man to drink from. Once the soldier had drunk some water and calmed down, Prince Ollie began questioning.

"What is your name soldier?" He asked placing a hand on the man's shoulder, and gently smiling. Looking up at the crown prince of Neolandia, the soldier took a deep breath and began explaining the situation. In all its detail.

"My name is Simon Mikazuchi, and I'm a scout in the army of Crown Princess Annika. I was sent ahead of the Princess to inform you of her retreat from Duren..."

"So it's true", Queen Sasandra spoke. "Prince Harold has taken the throne..." The Queen was interrupted by the soldier, who suddenly realised what he had done and bowed his head in apology.

"I'm s-s-sorry for interrupting you Queen Sasandra", Simon sobbed. "But neither the Princess nor her traitorousuncle have won. The war was suddenly taken over by a group of people that stormed headquarters. Princess Annika and her retinue barely managed to escape... I don't know about Prince Harold. But I had heard rumours that he lost a significant number of soldiers to an unknown attacker around the Arlen forest".

—

Standing up from her stone chair, the Queen of Del Bar moved towards the soldier and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder. "I'm not mad. I can see that you are truly loyal to Princess Annika". Queen Sasandra then noticed a faint flicker of realisation on the Amari boys face, it was almost as if he knew what the unknown force was that had depleted Prince Harold's forces.

"Who were these people that intervened in Duren! And, I can probably presume have now taken over your kingdom?" Prince Ollie asked, just King Relling joined him and Queen Sasandra by the soldier. Listing intently

To what he was saying. "It's them..." Simon cried. "The Militancy! I'd recognise that flag anywhere. The black cross in the field of flames..."

"They struck our base camp with such an intense speed, that we were taken by surprise. We barely managed had the time to get the princess out of there before we were completely overrun".

Gulping down more water, the Simon looked around the room at the other monarchs and captains, before he landed his vision upon a certain dark haired and miss matched eyed boy. Remembering that this was the boy that the Princess had told him about, Simon Mikazuchi kept his tongue in check, and continued with his story. "There's one more thing that I should mention..." Simon wheezed. "Our camp... our camp was attacked by knights of the Purple Orcas!"

The faces of the monarchs immediately became grim. "That's... disturbing", Prince Ollie stated, getting to his feet and walking over to Prince Harrow. "If an entire knight quad has gone rogue, and is siding with revolutionary dissidents, then our response has to be swift and meaningful". As he nodded in agreement, Harrow noticed that Zeren was no longer happily grinning with his friends. In fact the boy's eyes were wide, and his face was pale. And, judging from the frown the girl beside him was sporting, she had picked up on her friends unease.

—

"We should dispatch one of the Generals! Preferable Esdeath", Relling reiterated his earlier plan. Quickly, Queen Sasandra pre-empted either Harrow or Ollie from speaking. "I mean no disrespect to you King Relling, you too General Esdeath", the Queen started looking towards the tall white haired armour clad female. "But such an action could be seen as overreach. I know the generals could easily stop the civil war in Duren and bring about a peaceful transition of power... but that was not their original purpose". Sighing, as she then proceeded to take glass of water, from a beckoned over servant, Sasandra continued.

"The Six Generals were formed to protect the Pentarchy from Xadia, thereby freeing up the nine knight squads and their captains to police our own lands. If the people learn that we sent a general into one of the kingdoms it could lead to panic". A loud smash, followed by an expletive were heard uttered and made by King Relling as he threw a glass goblet down in dissatisfaction.

"For fucks sake! We don't have time to be waiting around for the others Captain to arrive, General Esdeath is here right now! So I say let's just give her the order to invade Duren now and wipe these scum off the face of the earth".

"Hey don't just discard us!" Captain Yami griped aloud before being silenced by a hand slapped across his mouth by a blushing Blue Rose knight captain. "What this idiot means..." Charlotte eased, glaring at Yami. "Is that there are three captains here, whom have brought hundreds of our squad knights here to guard you. So..." She trailed off.

"What Charlotte and Yami are both trying to say", Nozel sighed. "Is that we are just as capable as General Esdeath. She may be more powerful than us but Esdeath is more accustomed to fighting in Xadia, where restraint is not considered part of the job. Here in the Pentarchy, however, we knights need to know restraint when dealing with other humans".

—

Looking towards the gathered monarchs, as well as glancing at Zeren; to keep an eye on him, Nozel bowed his head in deference to them. Awaiting their response, and hoping that they chose knights over generals. As the monarchs gathered together and discussed 'matters', the Silver Eagles captain turned around and walked back towards the soldier, who was now receiving being looked over by a doctor.

"Simon Mikazuchi..." Nozel asked making the doctor and patient jump. "Captain Nozel", Simon tried to salute but failed due to his bandaged arms. "Could you please tell me why you looked towards the boy with the staff earlier? And why you seemed worried".

Startled by the question, and beginning to fidget, the soldier tried to feign ignorance. "I-I-I don't know what you mean... I was intrigued by the staff he was carrying".

Trying very hard not to lose his temper, Nozel simple fixed the soldier with a pointed glare. "Why are you so interested in him? Or are you an _invert_, hoping to gain his _favour_?" Flushing a deep crimson, Simon sent an equally pointed glare right back at Nozel.

"I am not an _invert_, as you so insultingly and wrongfully inferred. Not that there is anything wrong with being so! The woman I fight for: Princess Annika has a wife, so anything bad your say against same sex lifestyles is an affront to her graces right to the throne of Duren".

"Then explain to me soldier... why you looked like you looked like death upon seeing Zeren?" Nozel growled.

—

Against his better nature, Simon relented.

"Princess Annika warned me to be on the lookout for a boy called Zeren, within the Golden Dawn knight squad, who was being groomed for a high position in the Pentarchy. Her Grace fears that Katolis is trying to gain too much magical power. And a boy that is rumoured to use primal magic that is a knight of a Katolis based knight squad, Princess Annika deemed Zeren potentially dangerous".

Nozel sighed but didn't frown or berate the soldier anymore, knowing that he too held some reservations about the boy's presence. As well as the High Mage's interest in him.

"I understand your worries" he uttered. "I really do. But since Katolis, Neolandia and Del Bar all seek to allow Zeren his families place in society again, we have to trust the judgements made today. And I believe that Zeren will be good for the Pentarchy".

As they looked past one another, the Captain and the soldier watched the boy they were cautious to trust. Yet the quality that they both saw within the boy, that allayed their fears, was the love that he obviously had and shared with his fellow Golden a Dawn knight.

'_Sarai... was that her name_', Nozel mused. '_If she can tame his Amari blood. Then the Pentarchy's future is assured_'.

Watching the girl stare at the ring, now worn on her right index finger, blush and smile so brightly made Nozel feel more assured about the boy's magic control. "I hope you're right", he heard the soldier reply. For the sake of the human realm, that boy must learn control".

—

"General Esdeath!"

The voice of Prince Harrow called out, and speaking for the other monarchs. "We have decided in the wake of Duren's fall, that you shall invade Duren and rout the Militancy. However, in conjunction with your forces, the knight squads of Golden Dawn, Silver Eagles, Blue Rose Knights and Black Bulls shall assist you".

Walking forwards, General Esdeath knelt down and bowed her head in acceptance of the order she'd been given. "I will carry out the order you have given me. I shall see to it that Princess Annika becomes Queen". Standing up the general spun around and exited the room. Her dark blue cloak fluttering behind her and her armour clinking, as she headed out to war.

As soon as the General had left the room, conversations started up again about Duren and the possibility of the other four kingdoms annexing bits of Duren to keep Prince Harold away from any sort of power.

However, that was when the explosion occurred.


	39. Chapter 39: Kidnapped

Chapter 39: Kidnapped

"_Tenebris Praesidium!_"

With impeccable speed and timing, Jorvik wrote a dark magic rune circle in front of him instantly creating large dome of blackish-purple flames to erupt upwards surrounding himself and the gathered monarchs. Falling masonry, flames from the explosion and even twisted melted metal that were thrown at the dignitaries, bounced harmlessly off the dark shield.

"Dark magic..." King Relling uttered, staring at the young knight that had just saved his life. "Young man, I cannot thank you enough for saving my life", he cried. "If you ever need anything from the Kingdom of Evenere then you need only ask".

Trying very hard not to roll his eyes, Jorvik placed his arms inversely across his chest and back, a salute that was used by the knights of Pentarchy, and bowed his head. "I am a mage knight of the Black Bulls", he replied, "it is my duty to protect the Pentarchy."

The two newest monarchs, albeit in name only, Prince Harrow and Prince Ollie were both protected by crumbling building by Captain Yami, who slashed apart falling debris and bifurcated flames before they could impact the two prince regents

"Your majesties", Nozel spoke. "We need to get you out of here! Whoever set of that explosion could still be around here".

"Lead the way Captain Nozel", Queen Sasandra replied, keeping within the range of Jorvik's defence spell, for safety from the burning and tumbling down room. "Hey _golden boy_", Captain Yami asked, turning towards where Zeren had been moments ago. "Can you match Jorvik's spell..."

The question was met by coughing and wheezing, followed by Zeren and Sarai emerging from beneath a section of collapsed wall. Seeing their friends emerge from such a scene made Thorfinn, Noelle and Amaya rush towards them to help leaving Gyda and Mimosa to assist Jorvik's shield spell.

"Hey, _golden boy!_" Yami asked again. "Do you now any shield spell, with your primal magic?" Looking momentarily perplexed, Zeren quickly realised that the peaceful-ish meeting had now been upended into chaos. Leaning on his staff, the young knight mage raised his left hand and drew a rune symbol.

"_Scuto Bonae!_"

At once a large red shield appeared over the whole group of monarchs, nobles, soldiers, captains and knights; allowing them to make their escape out of the conference chamber and outside. "So cool!" Thorfinn grinned as he walked over and slapped his friend on the back, making Zeren grimace. "You sure do have a spell of every chaotic death defying occasion".

"He's not wrong", Sarai added, holding his hand. "You used the ice spell against those spider-things at the Temple, and then against SkekUng".

Looking at the three before him, Zeren realised that, together with Amaya, Jorvik, Gyda and Mimosa, the wish that his adopted elven family had wanted for him: to find 'human friends his own age', had come true. "Thanks guys... for being with me", he smiled softly making Sarai grip his hand tighter. "Hey lovebirds", Noelle sighed. "If you two are quite done, we need to get outside!" Blushing, whilst ignoring the smirks from Gyda and Amaya, both Zeren and Sarai hurried along to catch up with Noelle, Thorfinn, Mimosa and Jorvik.

—

Outside the conference hall, a domed building which stood in the grounds of Evenere's royal castle, Nozel Silva was frowning. The fact that the explosion happened directly after General Esdeath had just left the room inferred to either the general being behind he attempted assassinations or that whoever was responsible feared that the General's presence, with her magic, would lessen the explosions damage. Looking towards his fellow captains: Yami Sukehirl and Charlotte Roselei, Nozel saw that they were just as suspicious as he was about the explosions true proponent.

"Prince Harrow", King Relling spoke. "I'm going to issue an order for my kingdoms military to assist Esdeath's war against these bastards who have taken over Duren!" Turning around to face one of his retainers, the King scribbled down a message on a paper slip and directed to male knight to deliver the note to the castle barracks. 'Hmm'. Sighing, Prince Harrow nodded his head in understanding as he watched the retainer hurry off. "Very well then, I will also declare war on the Militancy. Katolis shall invade Duren alongside Evenere".

"You shall not be alone", the smooth baritone voice of Prince Ollie spoke. "Neolandia will accompany you. And together we shall make Princess Annika a Queen, as well as destroying these dissident revolutionaries!" As the three male monarchs all shook their hands they all became aware of Queen Sasandra's absence. Turning to ask Del Bar's ruler whether she would assist them they were met by an icy stare.

"Don't even try!" She gritted out.

"As much as Del Bar supports Princess Annika to the throne of Duren and the restoration of the Amari family within the Pentarchy, I will not allow my soldiers to be used in a land grab!" Pointing her finger directly to the other royals, Sandra finished her declaration. "That is what you three are reallythinking, is it not? So you can create enclaves of your own kingdoms inside of Duren!"

—

The expressions worn by Prince Ollie, Prince Harrow and King Relling were all one of shared realism. "Duren is the largest kingdom by sheer agrarian land, which is now controlled by revolutionaries", Relling explained. "Therefore we will do what is necessary to prevent either the rebel prince or these traitorous dissenters to gain any financial advantage from the land. Even if that means annexing land then so be it!"

"This is nothing but a land grab!" Queen Sasandra yelled, wielding her mace in the direction of the other monarchs. "We are threatened by revolutionaries, and you have the gall to illegally contravene the sovereign nation act just for greed! I'm having no part of this. I wish you good luck in the war against the Militancy but I will see to it that Princess Annika shall have the lands, you stole from her, reclaimed". With her piece said, the Queen of Del Bar stormed off accompanied by her soldiers on the way back to her own kingdom.

Turning back to face the assembled captains, Prince Ollie directed them to '_put together_' teams of knights that would be joining the '_warfront_' alongside the forces the White Wolf. Looking perturbed and extremely reluctant, the three captains present eventually saluted and bowed their head, showing their acceptance of their orders. "The boy... Zeren", Relling continued. "He should accompany the forces. His primal magic should be useful in times where dark magic becomes cumbersome".

Biting back his rising temper, for being lectured in military matters by the Pentarchy's least military minded king, about a person whom Nozel already had planned to have included in the plan, the silver eagles captain kept his head down.

Feeling a hand on his shoulder, Nozel turned his head and saw his cousin Prince Harrow of Katolis who seemed to share in his annoyance at King Relling's words. "I understand your frustration cousin", Harrow spoke. "Relling doesn't possess the strategic mind that his father did, and I know that he may sound conceited but he really is a good man".

—

Suddenly, at that moment a series of black chains burst out of the ground and began swirling around the group, trying to restrain the captains. Yami, Charlotte and Nozel all managed to avoid the chain and immediately went into defensive positions around the monarchs. Jorvik and Thorfinn drew dark magic circles before themselves and sent fire outwards, trying to light up the area to expose any attackers.

"Oh well", a solemn voice echoed from within a small coppice, about ten metres away. "I suppose now is as good a time as any!" Appearing, as of out of thin air, a man dressed in purple robes and wearing a mask clicked his fingers reforming the dark magic chains into snakes; which then began attacking the soldiers and assembled knights. "Oh look who it is", Captain Yami muttered derisively.

"_A boneless ham_".

The look upon the masked man's face suddenly became contorted with rage. "I've had enough out of you, Yami Sukehiro! _Dark transfiguration magic - invisible soldiers!_" Instantly, aside from the snakes, the gathered people became under attack from the air but as the traitorous Captain Geldre Poizot had said, they were actually 'invisible soldiers'.

And then, before anyone could do anything, a tall dark haired armour clad man with a black cloak billowing behind him rose out of a portal on the ground and grabbed Zeren, who dropped his staff is surprise, dragging the boy backwards into the swirling dark magic.


	40. Chapter 40: Sadistic Intent

Chapter 40: Sadistic Intent 

Primogeniture via Rape 

Pain. Darkness. Cold.

Three things that immediately became impactful upon the moment of his return to consciousness. And with them came the wild sardonic laughter of the red haired woman, wearing a combat dress and sitting on a chair before him, twirling his twin daggers in each hand.

"Heehaw! You're finally awake, little Amari".

Flinching slightly, Zeren looked around the room desperately trying to acclimatise his eyes to the low light. "Where am I!" He yelled lunging forwards, only to be yanked back by a chain around his neck and arms. "_aHahaha_", the woman chuckled, flicking her long red hair out of her eyes and winking coquettishly at him. "What makes you think I'm under any obligation to tell you that. Besides I just had to stop by and see you, Zeren Amari".

"Who. Are. You!" He gritted out. Again he received a sardonic smirk but this time the woman stood up from her seat and knelt down before him, caressing his face, whilst looking directly into his mismatched green and violet eyes. "Oh don't worry my boy. We'll be spending a lot of time together in the coming days".

Leaning into him the woman forced her lips unto his, the kiss lasted about ten seconds but was abjectly demolishing, on Zeren's part. Whilst, the woman simply grinned self abasing as she bit down on his lip and licked the blood that oozed from the inflicted wound.

Twirling her fingers around his necklace, the woman was momentarily tempted to rip the artefact away and destroy it right in front of the boy but she held off on that due to her sudden curiosity towards the purple crystal shard affixed in a silver hold. Not to mention how utterly bewitching it was.

'_Strange... there's a faint magic being emitted from that crystal shard_'.

Shoving that thought to the back burner of her mind, '_Lady_' Siena Gloriosa grabbed the boys left hand and placed it upon her left breast. Laughing at the sight of his red face, Sienna began to lower the top of her combat dress. Revealing her naked chest.

"What's wrong?"

She mocked singingly. "Don't you like me?" The look of fear, anxiety and rage all fighting for dominance in the boys eyes was too delectable to pass up, and so without further ado Sienna clicked her fingers.

A spark of dark magic sprung from her hand and slammed into Zeren's stomach, making him cough up the tiniest amount of blood. "You don't have to be shy with me, Zeren, having sex is supposed to be an a loving affair".

A look of sheer unadulterated fury emerged on his face but then was interrupted as Sienna moved to remove his breeches, smirking as she did so. "Get off me!" Zeren squirmed against his chains, trying to make as much noise as he could to hopefully grab the attention of any other of his kidnappers to intervene and stop this woman.

Unfortunately, no one came. And the red haired woman reached forwards and grabbed his face in her hands. "You see, I love your family with every fibre of my being. They were the best of humanity, our only hope against Xadia... but the Pentarchy murdered them".

—

A vicious snarl erupted from the woman's throat as her arms became cloaked in black flames. "So mark my words Zeren, I will do whatever it takes to see that the Amari bloodline is granted absolute power in this world. Even if we have to sacrifice you to get a better heir".

"You're supporters of my family..."

That was all Zeren managed to say before the woman gagged him and strapped a cloth over his mouth. "We are the true Amari loyalists! The _Rogues_ are traitors, and the _Faceless Order_ are cowards!"

Gripping onto his shoulders, Sienna Gloriosa stared into the boys eyes. "We will have revenge against those that took our masters from us. You should have joined us but instead you sided with the knights! Therefore, as the last Amari male... all we need you to give us a child". Angry tears glistened in Zeren's eyes as he listened and furiously began tugging against the chains that were keeping him prisoner.

'_Please... someone, anyone help me_'.

Yet, despite his pleas the silence was telling. '_I'm alone..._' Suddenly feeling hands creeping up his legs, he kicked outwards knocking the redhead away but instead of her being annoyed she simply grinned sadistically.

"Yes! That's the look, the dying embers of determination giving way to despair and hatred". Running a finger across her breasts, Sienna Gloriosa noticed the boy had shut his eyes. "Oh your not getting away that easily, I want to hear all your protestations! Every scream of rejection, every whimper. Every cry. Otherwise, this wouldn't be nearly as fun".

—

Tears dripped down Zeren's face as he suddenly felt and heard a blade slice his tunic open. And then a strangled cry burst from his gagged mouth as the blades cut across his stomach and arms. "Oh wow look at you! I knew Amari's were attractive but who knew I'd find you so good looking after a little bit of light torture". Her voice was booth soothing and tortuous and the way she spoke every word with such joy, terrified him.

"Don't... please stop", he whimpered. Unfortunately, his words were muffled by the gag, so all the woman heard were a string of non committal grunts but she did lean in and lick the tears from his eyes. Punishing herself upright, Sienna Gloriosa fully de-clothed herself before resuming her task. "Take heed my boy", she winked. "I'm sure you'll _learn_ some things for the rest of your life".

With his eyes wide and darting about the prison room and seeing nothing that he could try and use as a weapon, his magic was being suppressed by the chains on his wrists, Zeren attempted to headbutt the woman off him.

However, she predicted this move and leant in forwards pressing her lips to his and pressing her breasts upon his chest, right at the moment their bodies _connected_.

Attempting to use primal magic, against the woman, resulted in nothing but welts and cuts from the chaffing chains and even more brutally sadistic laughter from her. He had tried so many times to create magic that the woman had ended up grabbing his arms and holding them down behind his head as she continued to have her way with him.

"You are so much your father's son..." Sienna cooed, running her fingers through his hair. "Except this", she fumbled with the side braid in his hair. "Let me guess... from the _elves_ who raised you, huh?"

Rage and tear filled eyes bore into her as she smirked, from atop him. "They must have been special people to you. It's a shame that they'll never see you again". Before she knew what had happened, a bolt of red lighting shot from the boys chained hands; that were now behind his head, striking the wall and creating a thick cloud of dust.

"Oooh touchy subject..." She was cut off by the realisation of why had just happened, and by another red lightning bolt striking her in the shoulder.

"How did you do that!" Her voice was suddenly cold and stern, gone was the joyfully sadistic character and it was replaced with fury. "These chains are made from **Deep Stone**, they're supposed to suppress primal magic. So how did you bypass that rule and use such magic!"

Slamming herself down and her fist into the boy, she began to loose herself in the rage of being attacked. Her fun had been interrupted, and whilst she regained momentum, she repeatedly punched the boy in the face.

—

"Oh yes! Give me more of this feeling", Sienna growled. "Make me angry! Let me hurt you over and over again!" Licking the blood from the boys bleeding nose and lips, she smirked as she ran her tongue into his mouth. "Are you enjoying this my sweet boy?"

Struggling against the woman's hand on his arms was getting him nowhere but still he fought with every fibre of his being, the words of his mother and adopted mother ringing around inside his head.

'_Never give up, never forget who you are_'.

A feeling like he was being drowned suddenly overcame him. Only it wasn't a feeling, through his bleary vision he could see the woman straddling him, was now choking him. As the air was being ripped from his lungs and as his muscles screamed for oxygen and energy, he felt her hands move away from his throat. Gasping for air, Zeren hadn't noticed that the woman had stopped moving, and was now leaning forwards and propping herself up on her elbows, looking deeply into his eyes.

"So...?" Sienna smiled evilly. "How was your first time?" Seeing tears trickling down the boys face, she drifted her hand to brush them away only for Zeren to turn his head away and sob loudly. Grinning as she let out a short chuckle, she allowed herself a moment to bask in the combination of sexual and sadistic pleasure she had been inundated with.

Leaning down once more, she pressed a kiss to Zeren's forehead. "Remember this day my sweet boy", she whispered. "The first time is always special".

Standing up, Sienna Gloriosa redressed and made her way over to the cell door. Taking one last look at the weeping bloodied teenage boy laying on the ground, she smiled as she took the two sky iron daggers and attached them to her hips. "You may never see your adopted parents or your friends again but I promise you this... I swear to you that I will take very, _very_, good care of you for the rest of your life".

A soft whimpering escaped Zeren's lips as he heard those words, assuming that this was to be his new purpose. A stud, solely for the purpose of whatever his families former acolytes were after. As the jail cell door swing shut and the sound of the heavy bolt was locked in place, Zeren came the conclusion that if this truly was to be his life then he would rather die.

And so with even greater despair and self loathing creeping ever further, and deeper, into his heart he decided that he had to end his life before the woman returned.

The only problem was how.


	41. Chapter 41: War Cry

Chapter 41: War Cry!

"That man..." captain Nozel stuttered. "I'd know him anywhere!" With a a look of profound sadness upon his face, the Captain of the silver eagles wiped away tears from his eyes. "That man was Sir Devin Mallory, one of the Six Generals... _my godfather"._

Captains Yami and Charlotte simultaneously flinched and scowled at that news, as the public revelation that a General was siding with dissident revolutionaries would almost certainly demoralise many hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers. "Well ain't this just frickin' perfect!" Yami growled. "We loose Duren as a sovereign kingdom to revolutionaries, who have just now kidnapped _golden boy_".

Nodding her head and sighing, Charlotte Roselei tired her head towards Prince Harrow. The only monarch that she trusted and admired. "Your grace. What are your orders?"

Running a hand through his black braided hair, Harrow looked forlornly distressed. "We retreat. Charlotte, Yami and you too Nozel, go back to your knight headquarters and convene your best fighters. And then come to Katolis castle, I may need to talk with Julius, but I am confident we can overcome the threat these rebels possess..."

"Why can't we go now!" The angry voices of Jorvik and Thorfinn yelled, interrupting Harrow. "That man kidnapped Zeren", they screamed, glaringly. Behind the blonde and the redhead stood Noelle, Gyda and Amaya; all looking equally peeved by the decision to retreat. "We need to rescue him! And if that means fighting a rogue general and a bunch of revolutionaries, then so be it!"

From her kneeling position, clutching the staff right to her chest, Sarai felt an overwhelming sense of dread coming from the staff. '_Zeren..._' She wasn't sure what made her think that this sense of profound fear she picked up from the staff belonged to Zeren, but what she did know was that there was pain and suffering behind it. Pressing her lips against the crescent apex, she murmured a silent prayer for him.

No one, her included, didn't not notice the floating clock hands in the crescent' centre shift to a little off '_quarter past six_', before faintly glowing a silvery red.

"Please", Harrow responded. The eighteen year old new king, tried to allay the worries and anxieties of Zeren's friends. "I have no intention of leaving him with these people for long, but we need time to gather knights, and organise a plan of attack". Reluctantly, the group of young knights nodded their heads in acceptance of Harrow's plan.

—

News that the Pentarchy Conference had been attacked by seditious rebels spread fast through the kingdoms, and whilst four kingdoms were able to stabilise their populations faith in their system of governance, the kingdom of Duren was now being regarded as a failed state.

Within hours of reconvening at Katolis's royal castle, Sarai, Thorfinn, Noelle, Jorvik, Amaya, Gyda and Mimosa; as well as the three captains who had brought along a contingent of their strongest warriors to assist in the fight for Duren. They were all assembled inside the throne room of Katolis castle with King Harrow seared in the throne and the High Mage, standing beside him.

"Zeren has been abducted..." Thorfinn began immediately trying to to reaffirm what he thought was, the most important issue. Yet, holding up his hand the new King wordlessly asked for silence before speaking.

"Zeren Amari is being held by surviving acolytes loyal to his family", Harrow began. "However, me and Julius don't know why they would want to kidnap him, we can only assume that they want to get revenge against those that killed his family and want to keep him out of harms way..."

"If you're suggesting that Zeren is in line with them..." Jorvik growled taking a step forwards, only to have a large solid hand grip his shoulder and yank him back. "That's not what the King, is saying!" Yami yelled. "Besides I could tell when I saw him, and the way he reacted to your coming back to him at the Temple, that he would isn't the type of person who would jeopardise his friendships. He's too good hearted to even be consider betraying anyone".

A warming sensation crept over Sarai as she listened to captain Yami's words, and she took solace in the fact that at least two captains were supporting Zeren's loyalty to the Pentarchy, despite them knowing perfectly well that he had every reason in the world to want bathe the kingdoms in blood. "We'll get him back", Noelle knelt down and whispered to her. "He's a part of our inter-squad team, not to mention our team leader".

"Yeah!" Thorfinn sounded as well. "I swore a vow to fight along side him, and protect him if anyone threatened his life. And right now I'm doing a poor job at that".

Smiling up at her friends, Sarai schooled her expression into one of gratefulness and determination. "Thanks Noelle, Thorfinn". Pushing herself to her feet, and leaning on Zeren's staff, she noticed the worrisome frown on her sisters face that was shared by Jorvik, Gyda and Mimosa.

"Okay that enough wallowing in self pity", Captain Yami interrupted walking forwards and holding his katana outwards at the group of younger knights. "Julius and King Harrow have a plan... so unless you don't want to rescue your friend, continue to ignore them".

—

Suddenly remembering where they were, and who was with them: Sarai, Thorfinn, Noelle, Jorvik, Amaya, Gyda and Mimosa all spun around and bowed in apology, as well as to reaffirm their loyalty to the powers that be. The Pentarchy and its current High Mage.

"Please", the eighteen year old Harrow began. "I know how very worried you all are about Zeren but me and Julius have a plan". Gesturing to his right, the high mage stepped forwards and swished his hand thought the air creating a spherical rune of dark magic.

"Knights Sarai, Noelle and Throfinn", Julius Novachrone spoke. "As you three have the greatest links to Zeren, you will be part of the main strike force, led by General Esdeath and one other person. Knights Jorvik and Mimosa will be part of the defensive wall backed by Captain Roselei and the Blue Rose knights, whilst knights Amaya and Gyda will be with the scout group comprised of Coral Peacocks and Blue Rose knights".

"But how will we find where Zeren is!" Sarai exclaimed exasperatedly. A smile graced the High Mages lips as he walked forwards and placed a hand on her shoulder. "That is where you, Noelle and Thorfinn play a special role. Because of your strong links to Zeren... I can use a spell that can track a missing person via the emotional strengths of the people most connected to them".

Momentarily stunned by High Mage Julius' revelation, Sarai stood and gaped before she found herself being thrown back into reality by Noelle asking, "why not Jorvik? He was with Zeren at the Temple".

"Jorvik might be able to help locate Zeren..." Julius began. "But you love Zeren, Thorfinn sees him as an a equal and Noelle sees him as family. Your emotional connections to him are far stronger", Harrow interjected. "For Julius's spell to work it needs to zone in on strong feelings and use them as a guide to the one they are for".

Blindsided by how much the High Mage had managed to understand her feelings towards Zeren, despite only meeting her once before, Sarai covered her face with her red scarf and looked away. "Come on then", Gyda grinned gesturing to Sarai, Noelle and Thorfinn. "The sooner you locate Zeren with Julius's finder spell, the sooner we can head out and rescue him. And hopefully defeat these revolutionaries".

—

A look of worry adorned Noelle's face as she moved forwards and embraced Mimosa. "Be careful cousin, you too Amaya and Jorvik". Gyda moved forwards and slung and arm around Amaya's shoulders. "Don't worry about them, I'll be keeping them in check" the brunette girl grinned. "Captain Charlotte has made me group leader, which is surprising since I'm a Coral Peacock not a Blue Rose".

"_You're the most mature of us_", Amaya signed smirking, before she leaned in and kissed her girlfriend's cheek. "Heh!" Jorvik responded mirthfully. "We..." he gestured to himself and Mimosa, "resent the implication were childish". Mimosa simply smiled angelically trying to fit in with the group, that she was now now meeting properly for the first time.

Following Julius's commands, Sarai, Noelle and Thorfinn stood in a circle facing one another with their hands a placed in front of them. "Concentrate", Julius spoke. "Picture Zeren in your minds eye and bring all your memories and emotional connections forward". As directed to do so, the three young knights pictured their emotional connections to Zeren, and slowly in front of their eyes a rune began to write itself in the air.

Love, family and brotherhood. Their emotional connections to one Zeren Amari, were now being written into the High Mages spell.

"**Dux Affectio**", Julius murmured adding a second silver rune to the one the knights had created. "**Et perdidit puer locate**".

—

Above them three knights, floating above them inside the throne room, a large map of the Pentarchy appeared with several flags marking different areas within the five kingdoms. Moving forwards Julius raised a hand and created a black rune in the shape of a horse shoe, instantly on the the flag markers began incessantly waving.

"Is that it?" Yami murdered. "I've know you a long time Julius, and I've been wanting to see your magic so this... is kind of a let down". The captain of the Black Bulls was immediately smacked across the face by a blushing Charlotte, and a scowling Nozel. "Oh come now Yami", Julius smiled, "this is only one of my least powerful but quite useful spells. As for my more powerful magics, I tend to use them against Xadia or internal Pentarchy threats".

"Anyway", Julius interjected, "before knight Sarai verbally assaults us. I know where the militancy is, and where they are keeping Zeren". Sarai tearfully looked up at the floating map, as she was joined by Noelle and Thorfinn and the others.

"We know where they are now", Jorvik spoke determinedly, "and we will not rest until Zeren is safe with us again". Nodding her head, as she gripped the staff in her hands, Sarai felt a strange sense of anguish rush over her. It was almost as if the staff was trying to speak to her, warning her about something that had or was going to happen.

"Yeah! The Militancy will fall, Duren will not be divided up, Princess Annika will be Queen and Zeren will one day be the next High Mage".


	42. Chapter 42: Dreadnought

Chapter 42: Dreadnaught 

The Unleashed General, '_White Wolf_' 

There were many things in the world that brought joy to Misano Esdeath, all of these things involved her doing covert missions into Xadia. Yet, invading the human kingdom of Duren to assure the rightful ascent of the true Crown Princess was not something that the General had any real desire to do, but orders were orders and she was a General after all.

So she had swallowed her dissatisfaction and left the conference room, and used a dark magic teleportation spell to transport herself back to her castle fortress; where her loyal forces were based. Upon arriving at the border castle, one of the many castles that straddled the Breach between the human lands and Xadia, that served as her home and army base, Esdeath summoned a meeting with her three lieutenants: Lïver, Daidara and Nyau.

_The Three Beasts_.

"My precious three beasts..." Esdeath simpered as she sat behind her desk poring over maps and battle plans, for her coming invasion of Duren. "Have you assembled the troops?" Almost immediately, her three lieutenants all dropped to their knees and bowed in reverence and devotion.

Looking up, Lïver once again felt the reason why he had joined the woman sitting before him, rather than accept the death penalty that had been handed down for him.

General Misano Esdeath had seen within him the despondent corrupt man he had been and destroyed that part with her ruthless bluntness and her sadistic tendencies towards seditious or immoral people. And yet, the most important thing he had meant from her had been that beneath her sadism was a deep well of empathy for those that were loyal to the Pentarchy but disliked the fact that the Nine Knight squads were decried as the official military force.

—

The Six Generals were created by the previous kings of Katolis and Neolandia to counteract the knight squads and the High Mage, as well as to be loyal to the monarchs of those two Kingdoms. However, due to the popularity and influence of the two Crown Princes Harrow and Ollie, four of the Six Generals threw out their loyalty to kingdoms and exchanged it for loyalty to humanity instead.

With an outstretched hand, Lïver handed over a scroll containing the number of soldiers in the army, their skills and the level of determination they each possessed about defending the Pentarchy. The one thing that wasn't mentioned because it was it was widely known that those who joined Esdeath's Army were were so fastidiously loyal to the White Wolf, that betrayal wasn't a concept they knew.

"My Lady..." Lïver spoke. "The soldiers are ready and awaiting their marching orders. And I have commanded your corsairs division to sail for the northern coastline of Duren and to capture the two main fortress that remain controlled by Prince Harold".

Nodding we head, pleased by her underlings actions, Esdeath motioned for them all to stand which they did promptly. "I know you all dislike the way that the knights and some royals look down on us independent military personnel but now is the time that we show our strength!" Standing up from her desk, the silvery-blue haired general placed one arm across her chest whilst the the other was inversely placed on her back. "We are the **Army of Wolves**, and we shall obliterate the militancy. These surviving Amari fanatics must be purged from existence, if the Pentarchy is to truly flourish".

Walking away from her desk, Esdeath moved over towards her armour plates which were hanging on a wooden stand, and began to dress for war. "Daidara..." she murmured. "Join the Corsair unit and oversee the destruction of all the rebel princes forces, as well as the capture of the northern ports. This way no one can leave or arrive in Duren".

Nodding his head, of large shaggy blonde hair, the large brute of a man: Daidara grinned as he picked up his twin double bladed axes and bowed. "It will be done, my lady". Turning around, the blonde brute of a man made his way out of Esdeath's study.

Nodding her head, the General directed her attention back to Lïver and Nyau. "As for you two", she addressed them, "you will meet take two thirds of the army and go meet up with the knight captains and their following troops". Bowing, the moustachioed grey haired Lïver and the boyish Nyau kept their expressions serious and determined. "What knight squads are being sent, and which captains will be joining us?" Nyau asked, twirling the weapon he used most in his hands. A flute.

Smiling at her youngest lieutenants question, and the curiosity that he was displaying, as well as the unspoken plea to battle them, Esdeath leant forwards and patted the boys blonde hair. "Knights of the Blue Rose, Golden Dawn, Black Bulls, Crimson Lion Kings and Coral Peacocks shall be assisting us save Duren. They will be led by their respective captains, so try not to wound their pride too much".'

—

After completing her warriors attire, red robes and black armour, with a green sash around her left arm, Esdeath made her way over to her beloved rapier sitting in its stand on her desk. Attaching her sword to her hip, the woman grinned flicking her long blueish silver over her shoulder. "I meanwhile, will go directly to Militancy's base and see for myself just how strong these people are". Smiling back at her, the two men simply responded with, "good hunting".

As they exited the grand manor, that stood in the centre of the massive fortress, Esdeath observed the steadfast fortitude and unbreakable loyalty of her soldiers. Taking up a prominent position standing upon a raised platform, so her followers could all see and hear her. The general spoke.

"_Today we go to war_", she yelled. "_We may not be taking the fight to Xadia but we are saving Duren from seditious traitors whom wish Pentarchy destruction. And so I say to you all; You will be victorious! We are the true knights of the Pentarchy, and we shall never falter! You are all part of the my army. My Army of Wolves, and I refuse to have you all looked down upon by the knights and the insufferable captains. We are stronger, we have more experience when dealing with Xadia. And we will show the people why the Six independent armies and their Generals are superior to the knights!_"

Stepping down from the raised stand, the woman gestured to Lïver and Nyau. "_For now you shall be under ten command of lieutenant general Lïver and commander Nyau, whilst I scout the enemies location and strength. And when I return we shall crush them together!_"

Loud cheers erupted from the entire amassed army, adoration and true loyalty to Esdeath were very much evident in each soldiers eyes, as they saluted their leader. As Lïver and Nyau climbed onto their horses and began to lead the army outwards to war, Esdeath watched proudly. Then moving into a more open space she swished here right hand through the air, making a spiral rune of dark magic.

"**Draco Glacies!**"

—

A thick dense mist swelled around Esdeath before it suddenly began to clump together into a massive fifty metre high ice monster. An 'Ice Dragon'. Standing on the creatures back, with her hair and her red robes flapping in the air as the dragon sculpture flew through the air, the general marvelled at her own power and began to muse upon the reactions of the Militancy seeing her approach them on the back of a dark magic created dragon. The thought amused and excited her, allowing her magic the chance of rip apart, and eradicate, any and all traitors and enemies to humanity was all she lived for.

The sheer unadulterated pleasure that came from killing, Misano Esdeath was an addict. The strongest female warrior loyal to defending the human realm and holding nothing but contempt for the knights, who she viewed as weak and too inwardly thinking. She was completely unrestrained, wild and brutally sadistic. And as much as the knight captains had tried to beat her, the '_White Wolf_' always won.

Soaring through the air on the back of a massive ice dragon, Esdeath grinned menacingly as she stared ahead. '_Perhaps this wont be too dull as I had first thought' she mused. 'In any case, I'll be able to kill as many traitors as I like_'.


	43. Chapter 43: Love Lost

Chapter 43: Love Lost

Understanding Nozel Silva

"How much further till we meet up with Esdeath's army?" Thorfinn wheezed. He, along with the others, and a nearly ten thousand strong force comprised of knights, chosen from the nine squads, and led by five of the captains. Looking forwards, Thorfinn sighed exhausted as he saw the forrest road winding onwards.

"If you don't stop asking me that question, it will forever be the thing you're remembered for", growled the irate voice of Nozel Silva. The Captain of the Silver Eagles was riding a horse in front of where Thorfinn, Jorvik, Sarai, Gyda, Amaya, Mimosa and Noelle were walking. And judging from his scowl he was none too happy about being the captain in charge of this particular group of knights.

"Please, brother?" Noelle pleaded. "Thorfinn is just worried about Zeren..." The silver haired girl was interrupted by her eldest brother turning his horse around and facing her little group, and for the first time in her life she didn't buckle under her old fears. '_Nozel has accepted me... Nebra too. Solid still acts resentful though_', she mused to herself as she held her brothers gaze.

"Neodymium castle is now only seven miles away. That is where Sir Julius said these militancy bastards are based, presumably that is where Zeren is being held. That is if you're feelings were true for Julius's spell to work properly", Nozel replied. Noelle and Sarai had to practically tackle Thorfinn to keep the blonde boy from lunging forwards in an attempt to hit back at that remark. "We're friends!" Thorfinn growled under his breath.

"I can see that", Nozel retorted before turning his horse back the way they were supposed to be going. "What I meant..." Nozel retorted, "was I hoped your belief to find him is resolute enough". Again Thorfinn looked as if he seriously wanted to inflict pain upon the Silver Eagles Captain, fortunately he was held back by Noelle and Sarai who frowned at Nozel's retreating horse.

"What does he know!" Thorfinn growled. "He wasn't there in the temple, to understand Zeren's pain. And just because he had apologised to you..." he spoke to Noelle. "Doesn't mean that he truly understand the hurt that you and Zeren feel, years afterwards". Jorvik reached forwards and placed a hand on his childhood friends shoulder, just as he was angrily pouting. "I'm sure captain Nozel is concerned... in his own way".

—

Thorfinn scowled and was about to retort, when Mimosa interjected. "We should all keep calm and remain positive, we will get Zeren back. And the people that took him will be defeated". Moving towards her cousin, Noelle smiled and took both her hands. "Mimosa's right", she spoke, "we have to focus on recovering Zeren and saving Duren. Not sniping at those higher ranked than us... even if they kinda of deserve some".

Frowning slightly, Thorfinn eventually came round to the idea of letting go of his annoyance towards captain Nozel's doubts that their bond with Zeren would be strong enough to find him. "Fine", he snapped spinning around and moving after the disappearing captain and the other knights that were part of their contingent. "Let's get going. Before _captain hairstyle_ comes back and doubts us again". Sarai glanced at Noelle, as if to say '_you gonna talk to him_', and she received simple nod back. As well as a blushing red face.

"You kids alright?" A formal yet comforting voice spoke, breaking them from their lessened unease. Turning around, Sarai and Noelle both saw the red robes and orange hair of Fuegoleon Vermillion, and behind him, having caught up with the group of knights in front of them, were the knights from the Crimson Lion Kings. "Cousin!" Mimosa cried out joyfully hugging the captain, surprising Jorvik, Gyda and Amaya by her actions. Smiling, Fuegoleon simply patted Mimosa on the top of her head before looking at Sarai, Thorfinn and Noelle.

"Please don't think ill of Nozel, he isn't very good when it comes to talking about his emotions. But I can tell you that when he saw Zeren taken away, I saw him try to secure the General that took him. Unfortunately, he got away for which Nozel blames himself. As he also blames himself for not being able to save Dalia Amari, the woman he loved".

A silence befell the group as they walked alongside the captain, taking in this new information. "My brother loved Zeren's elder sister..." Noelle asked timidly. Feugoleon didn't turn around, he continued walking as he replied. "I only knew because I sussed it out. Had your father discovered them, and as he was supportive of Otar Ren and Svenguald's planned purge, he would have condemned Nozel to death or exile".

"You know... they wanted to marry". Fuegoloen continued. "However, the letter from all the Pentarchy monarchs to the Amari family practically ended their dreams. He tried to convince her to leave with him... to elope, but they were unable to do so".

Tears ran down Noelle's face as she took in the information about the heartache that her eldest brother had undergone. Loosing the woman he loved, and learning that she and her family had been betrayed by the very realm they had always been loyal to. That he was sworn to protect as a knight squad captain. "H-h-he was trying to empathise with us..." she sobbed. Nodding his head, that was all the response the Crimson Lion Kings captain gave them.

"Captain Nozel..." Thorfinn uttered regretfully. Running a hand through his blonde hair, the boy sighed and looked miserable. "I need to apologise to him". Placing her hand on Thorfinn's shoulder, Noelle showed understanding for his worry for Zeren but also showed a look of profound empathy for her oldest brother. "We should catch up with our unit... the sooner we meet up with the Generals troops the sooner we can besiege these rebels".

Collectively nodding their heads, Sarai, Jorvik, Mimosa, Gyda and Amaya followed after Noelle and Thorfinn. Giving the two Black Bulls some room to themselves.

—

As they walked, catching up with Captain Fuegoleon and the unit of knots that he was leading, the group began hearing loud voices and heartily cheers coming from up ahead of Nozel's knights. Within a large glade of trees, with a mineral spring at the centre, was a huge conglomeration of heavily armoured soldiers all of whom bore the White Wolf emblem of their breastplates. A large command tent had been established and from the top was flying a banner consisting of three pairs of crossed swords.

_The Three Beasts_.

"Oh brilliant..." Nozel muttered in annoyed sarcasm. "It just has to be them". Appearing at his side, Fuegoleon reached out and placed a hand on his cousins shoulder. "Relax Nozel. Don't show them your contempt, we were ordered to work with General Esdeath and her army..." Scowling as he took in Fuegoleon's advice, not at being given advice but at having to work with these soldiers. "I don't like this..." he muttered, "the general is one thing. I can see her strength and power as being useful to Pentarchy defence but her soldiers know no loyalty other than to her".

Nodding his head in silent agreement, Fuegoleon turned his head and looked back at the group of their hundred or so knight, from crimson lion kings and silver eagles. "Our displeasure is shared by our own knights, the sole exceptions are the group of Zeren's friends. They all seem to be willing to give the Army of Wolves a chance".

Nozel frowned as he too looked over his shoulder towards his youngest sister and the rest of her friends. "Naivety is commonplace amongst the young. In time they too shall see that the Generals and their armies serve no other purpose than being mercenaries at the hire of the kings when diplomacy fails them."

"You still blame him don't you?" Fuegoleon spoke. "General Tsukasa..." He was suddenly interrupted by Nozel spinning around with a furious glare in his eyes. "Don't you dare speak that name to me! Tenjiki Tsukasa is dead to me! Unlike the High Mage, he was there... he could have done something. But no my _so-called_ friend stood by and watched them die".

"Still. You have to talk him eventually".

Fuegoleon's voice was clam, and he showed absolutely no response to Nozel's continuing ire. "I was never close to anyone from House Belmarsh, and the Amari's like you were, but it is clear to me that General Tsukasa still sees you as a friend. And that he grieves for Dalia as you do". Gritting his teeth, Nozel forced himself to brush aside the memories of his childhood friend that were flashing before his eyes. Instead focusing on the mission before him... saving Duren, from revolutionary militants, as well as her younger brother.

"Not it I can bloody help it!" He muttered to himself, under his breath. Bristly moving forwards, the Captains of the Silver Eagles and Crimson Lion Kings led their military units into the soldiers camp, purposely avoiding the scowls and derisive comments thrown at the 'uppity' knights. As their knights procession stopped outside the soldiers command tent, the two captains were met by two individuals. The cold indifference of lieutenant Lïver and the grinning wildness of Commandant Nyau.

"Welcome to the **Army of Wolves**. Captain Nozel and Captain Fuegoleon", Lïver uttered plainly, almost as if he was ironing his clothes for the day ahead.

"You're late".


	44. Chapter 44: Knights and Soldiers

Chapter 44: Knights and Soldiers

Bitterness and Resentment

"Don't do that!"

Nozel glowered in the direction of the youngest knights... Noelle and her friends, who had been about to approach some soldiers. Presumably to try to get along with them, and form a working relationship with their new allies. Yet, he knew better than to trust these people.

Seeing the surprise in their eyes, he was almost tempted to allow Noelle and her friends the chance to see for themselves the utter disreputability of the six independent armies. Instead he killed off that idea, not wanting to risk Noelle's life; now that he had somewhat brought her back into the family, and regained some of her trust. As nervous as he was about being amongst the scoundrels that Esdeath called her army of wolves, he was adamant that he would not be taken in by their underhand battle tactics and devious mannerisms.

It was bad enough that the knight squads had two unruly, somewhat respectable captains; in the forms of Jack the Ripper and Yami Sukehiro. And as much as those two had earned his begrudging respect and trust as fellow captains, they were still commoners. Even if, through grit and strength, they had managed to rise above their station to join high military leadership.

"Well well well..." the drawled out voice of lieutenant Lïver spoke. "Two royals have deigned to grace us with their presence. _Nozel Silva and Fuegoleon Vermillion_".

Gritting his teeth, the silver eagles captain kept his face schooled as neutral as he could. "We are here to work with you in defeating the rebel militants within Duren..." He was interrupted by the blonde haired younger male beside Lïver. "Don't forget we are to also rescue the captured Amari boy, and ensure that Princess Annika becomes Queen".

Turning his head to glance at the grinning younger male, Nozel saw that the boy was twirling a flute in between his fingers whereas Lïver remained stoically steadfast in his standing, keeping eye contact with both captains, and toying with a strange silver and purple ring on his middle finger. "Your magic levels are strong..." Nyau giggled, flicking his blonde hair out of his eyes. "I want to fight you but I guess I'll have to wait until we finish the mission".

'_He reminds me of the crazy berserker in Yami's squad_', Nozel mused as he observed the youngest of the Three Beasts. '_Looks a bit like him too..._'

Turning away, the younger male disappeared into the command tent before re-emerging moments later carrying a sealed latter. "Our goddess left this letter for when you finally arrived..."

"And where is General Esdeath?" Fuegoleon interjected, trying to dissuade any unhelpful situations from arising due to Nozel's unease and dislike from being with these people. "Sir Julius's orders were that the captains would lead units into Duren and subdue the rebels, aided by Esdeath..."

"If she isn't here then we're going to have to request another General instead!" Nozel interrupted, his temper getting the best of him and creating a sword of mercury and holding it outwards.

"Oh you can't leave", Lïver replied. "We have a mission to complete... and the monarchs would be soo displeased if you _honourable_ knights were bested by us _deplorable_ soldiers".

—

Sensing a growing fury from the two captains, Noelle and Sarai bolted forwards and placed themselves in between the brewing tense situation.

"Please! Captains, Lieutenants", both girls yelled, standing back to back and faced the groups leaders. Fully aware that all eyes, knights and soldiers were upon them. "We have to understand one another if we are going to work together! So please can we try to improve the relationship between the two military factions. Duren, the wider Pentarchy and Zeren Amari are all at risk the longer we allow our respective grudges against one another continue!"

Silence. For almost ten whole minutes the captains and the lieutenants stared narrow eyed at each other whilst, taking in the two girls words. Then... "Fine. We'll cooperate, and plan a joint invasion of Neodymium castle", Nozel sighed before walking forwards and placing a hand upon his sisters shoulder. "Noelle, and Sarai, are right... we may not like it trust one another, but I this moment we need to try and get past that and defeat the rebel militants in Duren".

Lïver and Nyau both kept up their distrustful scowls but in the face of their soldiers, whom beginning to look at Nozel and Fuegoleon in a new light, the lieutenants had little choice but to turn around and lead them into the command tent. "Fine then... let's plan an attack", Lïver responded flatly before turning to Nyau. "Go make sure that the cannons are ready, we'll need them to be part of the siege".

Grinning, the younger male turned and walked away from the captains in the direction of another larger tent.

"You're bringing them with us! Are you mad, they haven't even been officially declared to the public yet. If we use them within our own lands, they could be seen by Xadia as a trial run for against them". The fury and exasperation within Fuegoleon's voice momentarily made Lïver flinch, as he doubted the General's plan, but the lieutenant shook his head and dispelled those traitorous thoughts.

'_Esdeath is my commander, and I will follow her orders to the letter. No matter how many people disprove of them_'.

As the blonde lieutenant walked away, and the captains followed Lïver into the command tent, Sarai and Noelle suddenly found themselves embraced by their friends. As well as receiving a couple of accepting nods from a couple of soldiers, who agreed with the girls words. "Hey..." Mimosa spoke, shaking slightly, "we should probably go get some rest before we all head out to... war". Moving forwards, Noelle embraced her cousin and held her, soothing her nervousness at them all having been called up to battle.

"I don't want to die... I don't want to die!"

Mimosa suddenly broke into tears, as the full weight of what the knights and soldiers had been gathered together to undertake. Whimpering as she dropped to her knees and cried into Noelle's arms, even as her cousin held her tighter, Mimosa still found it difficult to believe that the Pentarchy, if Duren was fully controlled by the Militancy, would be on the verge of civil war.

Hurrying forwards, Jorvik lifted Mimosa up and carried her into a nearby tent given over to him by a group of concerned soldiers. "Thank you", Jorvik spoke graciously, to them as he passed them. Nodding their heads in understanding, the soldiers left the teenager knight to console the blondie-brown haired girl. "Wait! She's my cousin so I'm staying with you", Noelle interjected, following Jorvik into the tent.

Outside. Sarai, Thorfinn, Gyda and Amaya all decided to rest up and await any news from the discussions currently going on between the captains and lieutenant Lïver. "Come on", Thorfinn sighed. "Jorvik and Noelle are the best people Mimosa needs right now... her female cousin and the boy she likes". Taking one last worried look over her shoulder, Sarai deferred to Thorfinn and began assisting the boy, in dragging Amaya and Gyda back to their tent to rest.

Meanwhile, inside ten command tent, Nozel and Fuegoleon were both staring down at Esdeath's letter in complete shock, as well as fear for what she would do to Duren's geography. The general's magic could permanent change and scar landscapes for generations, and whilst doing that in Xadia benefited humanity. Scarring a human kingdoms land, would have serious consequences for the ruling royal family.

_—_

_Captain Nozel Silva,_

_Captain Fuegoleon Vermillion_

_I am currently raiding the enemies strongholds; intelligence gathering, and testing their skills against my own. For my own enjoyment, of course._

_In the meantime, I have left two of my three beasts to await your arrival, whilst the third is commanding my corsair unit to besiege the northern coastline of Duren. Do not fret though, Daidara has implicit orders to retake land and set up safe zones, protecting the citizenry from these rebel militants. As for Lïver and Nyau they will be accompanying you on your land route to Neodymium Castle. You do not need to worry about them, their skills are worthy knighthood. If anyone paid attention._

_I heard that General Mallory has turned traitor, and I've also heard that another general is too. Along with a captain. And so I have sent a raven to Tenjiki Tsukasa to aid in our rescue of Duren and the Amari boy. I hope you don't take too long in getting here..._

_General Misano Esdeath_

_Commander of the Army of Wolves_

—

"So this of what that woman is up to", Fuegoleon sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I knew she loved fighting strong opponents but to go head first into a situation like this before any back up comes..." He was interrupted by Lïver. "You do not need to worry, Captain of the Crimson Lion Kings. My lady know what she's doing, and she knows who the enemies are".

"That doesn't exactly fill me with confidence", Fuegoleon replied, "but I guess in the present circumstances having someone to scout out the enemies power is advantageous. Esdeath sure is perceptive when she wants to be". For the first time since they had met, Lïver smiled and nodded his head.

"She may not act like it but my lady is as loyal to the Pentarchy as any you captains, she is just willing to sacrifice more for the continued safety and prosperity of humanity".


	45. Chapter 45: Incursion

Chapter 45: Incursion!

Out of the seven strong militancy Council, Nitaky Yoram held the greatest ability to discover camouflaged enemies, as well as the ability to perform subterfuge and carry out and covert attacks. And so it was, to his greatest displeasure, that his discovery magic had been rendered void by the presence of the entry into their controlled territory, and consequently just by feeling the strength of this woman's power from so far away, and the induced substantial destruction, shocked him.

Nitaky only found out whom this woman was due to the two defected generals sat either side of him in the Council room, when guards had rushed in and informed them of a white haired manically grinning woman 'riding' an ice dragon through the air towards Neodymium castle.

"There's no way..." Tyrion gasped, standing upright. "How the hell did we", gesturing to Nitaky, "not pick up on this woman's presence!"

"This has to be Misano!" General Mallory enunciated plainly. "She's always been a wild card. How she ever made it to be named a general, I do not know". The man was backed up by General Trenton, "I find it strange that the Pentarchy would send her to counteract the Militancy in Duren".

"And why is that?" Sienna Gloriosa interrupted glaring daggers at the former general. "Do you find women _unbecoming_ when they don armour and outdo the male sex, when it comes to being battle front leaders!"

From the end of the long table, Lord Hiram banged the end of his silver staff on the ground. "Sienna, you can carry on your tirade later..." The tall black robed and hooded man turned back to the two Generals. "What else do you know about this Esdeath woman? And why do you find it surprising that she be sent to protect Duren?"

Casting a deliberate scowl at 'Lady' Gloriosa, Devin Mallory addressed the room. "Misano Esdeath is a wielder of dark-ice magic and combined with her insatiable lust for fighting strong opponents, they make her an extremely dangerous adversary. Mayhaps the only person who can fight evenly is my former colleague, Tenjiki Tsukasa". Taking a breath, and then drinking from a glass of water before him, he continued his description.

"Moreover, Misano is known as the '_white wolf_' because of her ferocious tenacity to be utterly merciless, slaughtering all enemies before her. And yet somehow remaining blood splatter free". Running a hand over his face, the general sighed before continuing... "Hmph. As for why I was surprised to hear of her dispatch here... Esdeath usually refuses point blank to undertake any missions in the Pentarchy. She spends a lot of her time fighting enemies within Xadia, which..."

"Which means that she has experience fighting enemies considerably more powerful than us. Dragons and elves... If we wish to win, we cannot underestimate her", Lord Hiram finalised. "So, the Pentarchy is moving to close us in are they..." he mused running a hand across his, hidden by the hood, face.

"Nitaky! Hugo! You two shall head out and take out this woman before she gets too close to the main fortress complex. If this general is coming all head alone that must mean that somewhere behind her is the main army..."

"My lord", Mallory and Trenton both stated. Let us go and face this army? We shall not let a single one of those animals threaten the planned destiny for the Pentarchy".

A single held up hand, silenced them, as Lord Hiram spoke. "No. I have a plan for you generals". Then directing his gaze towards Tyrion and Jaune Erisot, the hooded man whom everyone gave deference to, have his orders. "Juane. Tyrion, this general must be leading an army behind her. Whomever this force is, kill them all. We do not need soldiers or knights sculling around our territory before we can unleash our reformation unto the human kingdoms".

"Here here!" Sienna Gloriosa cheered. "The fewer forces the Pentarchy can call upon to fight, the weaker it gets and the stronger our chances are for when we make our attack on Katolis and kill the High Mage!"

"Speaking of things that are weak", Tyrian chortled. "How is our resident prisoner? I do hope you have been taking care of him Sienna?"

—

Grinning madly, the red haired woman placed a hand on her stomach and patted her belly. "My darling boy is doing his best", she spoke coquettishly. "I'm sure we will have a new Amari heir very soon". Silently chuckling as he noticed the look in Sienna's eyes, Nitaky almost felt sorry for the captured boy... but having thrown his lot in with the knight squads and the High Mage, the boy was now nothing more than a blood traitor.

Zeren Amari refused to accept that revenge for his families murder was absolutely necessary, nor did he want or believed that the dissolution of the Pentarchy and establishment of an Amari royal family led human realm were warranted either.

"We should just kill the boy once we have another Amari. The boy is defective and unworthy of being amongst us..." Nitaky was immediately interrupted by the bearded, and facially scarred, Rahm Kühn.

"How dare you!" The man yelled, banging his fists down on the table with such force that several cups of wine knocked over. "Zeren may not be the boy we want anymore... but he is still an Amari, and according to the spies I ordered to watch over him, his primal magic power could prove useful to us whenever we decide to eventually invade Xadia!"

"Whilst I respect you're power and your dedication to our cause", Lord Hiram interjected. "You're far too sentimental, after all it was you who commanded the ship that carried Zeren on that day eight years ago". Looking towards the hooded man, Rahm schooled his features into a look of confused deference. "Is this all he ever was to us... just someone who we would use as a stud!"

"Careful... Rahm", Lord Hiram spoke slowly. His left hand tightening around the silver staff, whilst the right ran across the cross guard. "Your words could be construed as treasonous..." Sighing, to keep his anger in check, Rahm brushed his shaggy black hair out of his face before tying it into a pony tail. "I'm not being treasonous, I simply advocate the continued usefulness and potential military advantages of the boy".

"This is why we should just kill the brat!" Nitaky yelled again. "Until we have a new Amari heir, the boy is unnecessary..." The warrior monk was suddenly punched hard in the face and sent careening backwards right into the path of an emerging servant. "You try it! You try to take my darling from me!" The fury and contempt pouring off 'Lady' Gloriosa as she stood, battle ready and fist raised right where her fellow militant had been sitting, was terrifying to behold.

"If any one of you so much as lays a finger on my beloved, I'll tear you limb from limb! Until the day he dies, Zeren belongs to me!"

Suddenly reminded why she, and Hiram, had been given the title of Lord and Lady, Nitaky pushed himself upright and bowed his head which conveniently redirected his hateful expression at the floor. At once the room fell into instant silence not even Lord Hiram dared to contradict Sienna Gloriosa, for he knew that she was deadly serious. And whilst he himself believed that the boy was now worthless to them, he sure as hell was not going to fight Sienna over Zeren's fate.

"Fine". Hiram stated plainly. "The boy is given completely over to Lady Gloriosa". Staring across the table, the hooded leader of the militancy tried to once again ascertain Rahm Kühn's loyalty. The man was an enigma, he never spoke about his life before he had pledged his life to the Amari Family, and neither had he offered up any further details about why he was with them when he clearly objected to many of their plans.

Unfortunately, the leader found that he was still ineffective against Kühn's sheer strength of will. 'I know he's not really one of us'. As he unclenched his hand from the staff, he saw that Nitaky Yoram and Hugo Asahi were now moving out of the chamber; presumably to go fight the oncoming general. "She better be a worthwhile opponent..." the last thing he heard Nitaky mutter as the doors snapped shut behind them.

"General Devin. General Trenton. Meet up with Geldre, and prepare your soldiers for the invasion of Katolis! If the Pentarchy has the audacity to attack us then we will strike back with tenfold power. Their most powerful kingdom, will be the first to fall".

Standing up from his seat, the hooded man spun around and stalked out of the room, gripping the silver staff his family had obtained centuries ago.

"And I shall lead the vanguard!"

'_I'll do to them what they did to me!_'


	46. Chapter 46: The Great Ones

Chapter 46: The Great Ones 

It was one hundred years ago, when dark magic was first '_discovered_', by four corrupted elven Arch Mages and three human alchemists; who then began teaching their work to other humans and elves. Never knowing that which they'd discovered was not a sixth type of magic but a consequence of something that could eventually, albeit; over an extreme period of time, cause global disaster.

**The Darkening**.

The elven arch mages whom were deemed traitors by the dragons, and other elven rulers at the time, were four of the most powerful mages from the six tribes. The Startouch elf Aaravos, along with three other Arch Mages of the Skywing, Earthblood and Sunfire elves created a silver knee height staff with a shield shaped cross guard at the handle, the staff could also be extended into a full body length staff when spell casting, rather than its easily carried knee length standard version.

The staff was made for the usurpation and subjugation of Xadia by the four arch mages for the entirety of the fledging human race. More so, the staff in the hands of whomever wielded it, from generation to generation, would be able to use the staff to cannibalise and absorb the magical auras of primal magic beings it came in contact with. Transforming life into dark magic magic, in essence a small scale version of what SkekTek was doing to the Crystal of Truth.

In addition, the four arch mages imbued a small portion of their souls into the staff, creating a vessel from which they could oversee all the future human wilders of their invention. One of the ultimate powers of the staff was it could be a tool for altering planetary alignment and continental geography.

**The Dark Elves.**

_Aaravos of Astoria._

_Igñacio Etsako of Lux Aurea._

_Anak Florian of Crocœra Moors._

_And, Jahad Ulti of the Twin Spires_.

These four Arch Mages of the six elven tribes had befallen the corruption of the darkening. Enthralled by the power this occurrence gave them, they began to further dive into understanding this phenomenon more and more. Experimenting on criminals from their own species, they forced darkness to deform and change others for their future education.

In doing so, because of their deep rooted disdain and loathing of their own kind: Aaravos, Igñacio, Anak and Jahad all believed that simply annihilating the elven race and killing as many dragons as possible was the only way that humanity could take up all the continent for themselves.

The arrogance that the four arch mages saw in their fellow elves and in the dragons; that they were superior to humans, and that gave them sole judgment and ruling rights over the continent, fuelled the four Arch Mages desire to end elven and draconic rule. Moreover, the elves in positions of power, those who ruled the six tribes often completely overlooked anyone who wasn't high born, who showed potential to learn magic, to be given the chance to advance their arcanum.

Even if any exceptionally gifted humans were discovered, who were acknowledged by the dragons but left alone because of their humanity or ordinary elves whom could rival elven mages but could not advance further in magic classes because they were not high born...

Such prejudices infuriated the Four, as even ordinary elves had enough innate primal magic to progress to higher levels of mageship, and humans could learn to embrace magic if allowed. However, only high born elves could become mages or even Arch Mages, and only then did the dragons decide whom would be chosen to study under the six High Oracles, for that honour.

Aaravos had been given the benefit of the doubt by the dragon that had overseen his test, and had it not been for the words of Mother Aughra, he would have been exempt from learning magic. Cast aside. However, Mother Aughra had spoken up for him and swayed the Arch Dragon of the Startouch elves to let her train him to be an Arch Mage.

A decision that she never regretted but wished she had seen the anger and hatred in his eyes sooner, then she could have talked to him more about his descent into darkness. And maybe... just maybe she could have prevented the war that he and his fellow arch mages had started.

The reasons for the Great Ones being lauded, and then having their reputations cemented, as 'great' were because of their adeptness at mastering all six types of primal magic and their sheer determination to challenge existing norms that the dragons had held substantial sway over for centuries prior.

One such norm involved Igñacio Etsako, together with the then Queen of the Sunfire elves, to reform the ancient order of Golden Knights. The Arch Mage of the Sunfire elves, and his Queen, took away the naming rights of new members and the ancestral base of operations from the Sun Dragon, and placed the Golden Knights directly under the purview of Lux Aurea.

As it turned out, the sun dragons were adamantly opposed to this idea however due to the exceeding popularity of the reformation with the fellow sunfire elves of Lux Aurea, the dragons of the Sun arcanum were forced to, begrudgingly, accept them. And so the ancient order of Golden Knights became the guards the Sunfire capital, and enforcers of the then Queen. Aditi.

Moreover, in the Earthblood elf lands of the Crocœra Moors, Anak Florian used combined the sun, ocean and earth arcanum to permanently create a massive dense forest between to act as a border between to the Dark Kingdom: where the Skeksis lived.

However, as useful a barrier against the Skeksis the forrest proved to be, the four arch mages had created forest for a far more secretive and dark usage. They needed somewhere to act as cover for their experiments, it was here deep in the newly created dense forest and brush where they met in secret with their human alchemists allies and created dark magic from the Darkening.

Experimentation on live bodies was easy to do and harboured exceedingly useful information about the limits of elves strength of will, as well as giving them the opportunity to really show their utter disdain for their own kind and how far they were willing to go to annihilate them. The human alchemists that assisted in the experiments, and whom eventually inherited the power of dark magic, were often squeamish about how many elves and other magical creatures the four Arch Mages ripped apart, mutated, patched up or sometimes straight up murdered.

They knew that their goals were shared, the Four believed that elven society had become too corrupted by arrogance and decadence. '_Irredeemable_'. More so, the alchemists were told that as a result of the Four annihilating their own kind, they would give Xadia to the human race. So that humanity could flourish without the perpetual threat of war hanging over them by the dragons.

'_Humans are the rightful inheritors of this world_'.

The words of Jahad Ulti, arch mage of the Skywing elves had been the original basis for the alchemists aiding the Four, and twisting natural magics to form new unnatural means had turned out to not only be unbelievably difficult but also exhilarating to behold. Even if the amount of bloodshed got too much for human stomachs to handle.

They had been so close to achieving their goal. Unfortunately one of their mutilated, mutated captive experiments had feigned death and been allowed to be thrown into the mass grave, from their the remnant of an elf had dragged himself out of the hole in the ground and staggered to a nearby town, where he had been set upon by the terrified resident Earthblood elves. Yet, the disgorged elf was saved by a visiting emissary of the then Dragon King, who took the elf back to the King of the Dragons.

It was there that Sol Regem and the six Arch Dragons learnt of the diabolical atrocities committed, the genocidal plan the Four were intent on carrying out and of the desired outcome for humanity to usurp ownership of the whole continent. Almost immediately, and blinded with rage and hatred, Sol Regem called for the amassing of an army to invade the border forrest to put down the treacherous Arch Mages and their human allies.

The call to arms, from the Dragon King, was met with intense scepticism as many elves of Astoria and Lux Aurea refused to admit that their beloved Arch Mages had turned traitor against their ow species. However, the army was created whence the two great cities saw the '_evidence_' that had so angered Sol Regem, and so the six tribes were unified by rage and fear.

The battle of the Black Forest was short but what no one had conceived was just how brutal the Four would be when they were cornered, and faced with defeat. The number of dead elves that day... and the loss of all six Arch Dragons. It was simply a miracle Sol Regem manage to survive. Yet, no one celebrated... the deaths that had been brought about in order to end the Four had been in vain.

Whilst the acolytes were dead, and the human alchemists had died fighting, three of the arch mages had somehow vanished entirely. Only Aaravos remained. However, the startouch elf was responsible for the near fatal injury inflicted upon Sol Regem but before he could kill the Dragon King, he was sealed away inside a dimension mirror.

The sole thing that was left behind of the Four was a singular knee length silver staff, that had a shield cross guard at the handle. One human alchemist escaped, carrying with him said staff and a satchel heaving with scrolls and tomes.

His name was **Ziard**, and despite the rest of his bloodline being content to be the only humans to wield primal magic, he wanted more power. And dark magic was how he wanted to obtain it. A pity that it would later cost him, some fifty years later, his life at the fire of Sol Regem.


End file.
